Honoree 2017
Karina Gonzalez 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. Gonzalez joined Houston Ballet as a soloist in 2010, and was promoted to principal dancer in 2013. 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; Ai-Gul Gaisina’s staging of Giselle; George Balanchine’s Western Symphony, Serenade, Four Temperaments, Emeralds, Theme and Variations and Ballet Imperial. Sir Kenneth McMillan’s Elite Syncopations and Manon. Nacho Duato’s Por vos Muero, Remansos, Gnawa and Jardi Tancat; Jiří Kylián’s Forgotten Land, Sinfonietta, Petite Morte, Wings of Wax, Falling Angels and Stepping Stones; Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs and The Brahms-Hayden Variations; Stanton Welch’s Bruiser, Maninyas, Tu Tu, The Core, Indigo, Divergence, Clear ,Tapestry, Of Blessed Memory, Cinderella, The Nutcracker, and Swan Lake; Christopher Bruce’s Rooster, Intimate pages and Ghost Dances; William Forsythe’s The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude and Artifact Suite; Jerome Robbin’s In the Night, West Side Story Suite and Other Dances; Jorma Elo’s ONE/end/ONE; James Kudelka’s Passion; David Bintley’s Aladdin and The Tempest; John Neumeier’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Edward Lian’s Murmuration; Justin Peck’s Year of the Rabbit; Wayne McGregor’s Dyad 1929 and Harald Lander’s Etudes.
Gonzalez has been a guest artist at the Gala International Colombia (2006) and at the New York International Ballet Competition’s Gala (2009). Ms. Gonzalez 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. Gonzalez 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. In 2014, she was invited with The Australia ballet to dance the role of Nikiya in Stanton’s La Bayadere.
Gonzalez 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. Gonzalez was name “Best dancer” 2013 by the Houston Press and was one of Pointe magazine’s favorite performances of the year. Also, Gonzalez was featured in Kimberly Clark’s and Honda Civic’s 2016 Television and Marketing campaign. In December 2016, Gonzalez was recognized by The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce at their annual Gala.
Karina Gonzalez, Principal Dancer Houston Ballet
601 Preston St., Houston, TX 77002
www.houstonballet.org
