Houston Ballet PRINCIPAL  HARPER WATTERS Originally from Dover, New Hampshire, Harper Watters trained at Portsmouth School of Ballet, Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts, Washington Ballet and Houston Ballet Summer intensives. He was a member of Houston Ballet II from 2009 – 2011. In 2011, he competed at the Prix de Lausanne Ballet Competition where he won 6th overall as well as the contemporary dance award. Watters joined Houston Ballet as an apprentice in 2011. He rose through the ranks from corps de ballet in 2012, demi soloist in 2016, soloist in 2017 and first soloist in 2021.  Watters was promoted to Principal in spring 2025.

Since then, Watters has danced a variety of roles from some of the world’s leading dance choreographers. He has enjoyed dancing roles such as The Shepherd in ‘Sylvia’, Dandini in ‘Cinderella’ by Stanton Welch. Puck in “A Midsummer Nights Dream’ and The Sea Witch in ‘The Little Mermaid’ by John Neumeier, Camille in ‘The Merry Widow’ by Ronald Hynd, Blue Boy in ‘Maninyas’, ‘Divergence’, ‘Clear’, and ‘Velocity’ by Stanton Welch, ‘In the night’ and ‘The Cage’ by Jerome Robbins, ‘Concerto Barocco’, ‘Emeralds’ and ‘Four Temperaments’ by George Balanchine, ‘Petite Mort’, ‘Stepping Stones’ and ‘Overgrown Path’ by Jiri Kylian, “Grosse Fuge’ by Hans Van Manen, ‘One End One’ by Jorma Elo, originated roles in world premiers by choreographers Justin Peck, Aszure Barton, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Silas Farley, and Stanton Welch.

Watters has performed in several tours including Stanton Welch’s Swan Lake in Dubai, UAE and Minneapolis, MN (2018); Stanton Welch’s Tapestry and Velocity in Bonn and Ludwigshafen, Germany (2017); and Stanton Welch’s world premiere of Just, Clear, Sons de L’âme and Trey McIntyre’s In Dreams at Jacob’s Pillow in Becket, MA (2018).  As part of the Company’s 50th tour in October of 2019, he traveled to New York City’s City Center to reprise his original role in Justin Peck’s Reflections.

Houston Ballet principal KARINA GONZÁLEZ is a native of Caracas, Venezuela  and a silver medal winner of the New York International Ballet Competition in 2007. She trained at the Gustavo Franklin Ballet School in Caracas, Venezuela and has danced professionally with Ballet National of Caracas and Tulsa Ballet, where she reached the rank of principal in 2007. Ms. González joined Houston Ballet as a soloist in 2010 and was promoted to principal dancer in February 2013 following her performance as Nikiya in Stanton Welch’s La Bayadère.

She has danced principal roles by the world’s foremost choreographers, including Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella, Dracula, Romeo and Juliet, and The Sleeping Beauty; Andre Prokovsy’s The Great Gatsby; John Cranko’s The Taming of the Shrew (Kate); Ai-Gul Gaisina’s staging of Giselle; George Balanchine’s Western Symphony, Serenade, and Emeralds; Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Elite Syncopations; Nacho Duato’s Por vos Muero, Remansos and Gnawa; Jiří Kylián’s Forgotten Land, Petite Mort and Falling Angels; Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs and The Brahms-Hayden Variations; Stanton Welch’s Sylvia*, Romeo and Juliet*, Marie, Giselle, The Nutcracker, La Bayadère, Bruiser, Maninyas, Tu Tu, The Core, Indigo, Divergence, Clear and Tapestry*; Christopher Bruce’s Rooster; William Forsythe’s The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude; Jerome Robbin’s In the Night;  Edwaard Liang’s Murmuration*; James Kudelka’s Passion*; Justin Peck’s Reflections* and Jorma Elo’s ONE/end/ONE*.

González has been a guest artist at the Gala International Colombia (2006) and at the New York International Ballet Competition’s Gala (2009). Ms. González has also guested with Ballet Estable del Teatro Colon in Argentina, performing the role of Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty. In 2011, she participated in the Career Transition For Dancers’ 26th Anniversary Jubilee in New York City, New York and The Festival de Danza Cordoba in Mexico. In the summer of 2012, Ms. González performed in the International Ballet Gala in Malaysia and was invited as a guest artist with Michele Wiles and Charles Askegard’s up and coming company Ballet Next at the Joyce Theater in NYC. 

Ms. González has been featured on the cover of Pointe Magazine‘s February/March 2008 issue, Dance Magazine‘s November 2011 edition and A+C Houston Magazine‘s November 2011 edition.  González was name “Best dancer” 2013 by the Houston Press and was one of Pointe Magazine‘s favorite performances of the year. Also, González was featured in Kimberly Clark’s and Honda Civic’s 2016 Television and Marketing campaign. In December 2016 González was recognized by The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce at their annual Gala. In 2017, González was name one 30th Most Influential Women in Houston and 2018 was invited to participated at the International Ballet Festival of Havana. González was featured in Ed Sheeran’s music video “Put It All On Me.”  In March of 2018, González and her husband Rupert Edwards became parents of a beautiful baby girl, Julia Edwards.

Aoi Morohashi is an 18-year-old girl from Tokyo, Japan, who has shown remarkable dedication to ballet from a young age. At 16, she traveled to Houston to train at the Houston Ballet Academy, where she honed her skills and deepened her passion for dance. Now 18, Aoi has moved to Chicago and is a member of the Joffrey Ballet Studio Company, continuing to grow as a dancer and artist in one of the most prestigious ballet environments.