Down Under turnover in Texas. (News).

At age 33, Australian choreographer Stanton Welch will be one of the youngest artistic directors of a contemporary major American ballet company. After an international search, Houston Ballet announced that Welch will replace Ben Stevenson, effective July 1, 2003. Stevenson's twenty-seven-year tenure took the Texas company from a pre-professional offshoot of a ballet academy to an internationally recognized troupe with fifty dancers and an operating budget of $13 million. Following in his footsteps would be a daunting task for even a seasoned director.

"I think there are issues [about my age] that will be restrictive," said Welch in his first national interview since the announcement. "That's why Maina Gielgud was so important to me." Gielgud, a British ballerina and niece of actor Sir John Gielgud, was artistic director of The Australian Ballet from 1983 to 1996. She was responsible for hiring Welch as a dancer and giving him his first choreographic commission. Welch has now hired her as an artistic associate for Houston. He also intends to make use of Stevenson's expertise; as artistic director emeritus, Stevenson will continue to work with Houston Ballet, particularly in coaching the dancers.

"Everything he has built is what has inspired me to take this job," said Welch. "He is a great coach and a teacher and so much of the rep is his. I want to create my work, and eventually that will change the look of the company. But it's not suddenly going to be naked rolling around on the floor." Stevenson, who was part of the selection committee, has been impressed with Welch's dance-making since 1997. In 1999 he commissioned Welch to create Indigo for Houston Ballet, followed by Bruiser in 2000; he brought the 1995 narrative Madame Butterfly into the Houston repertoire last year.

"I also wanted him to create a work that would be unique to Houston Ballet," said Stevenson, who wants something with a real Texas flavor. "So I have commissioned him to create a new full-length program for the company's 2003-04 season."

That season will also be the first time the company holds national auditions in New York and San Francisco. Welch would like to expand the search to Europe the following year. Although he still intends to draw from the school, which has been a long-standing tradition, he is ardent about hiring the best dancers. "I'm not just casting for my ballet. I've got to see that any choreographer who comes in has enough different types of dancers to choose from," said Welch.

Besides his own work, Welch would like more pieces by Christopher Bruce, who has been the company's associate choreographer since 1989. "Also Forsythe and Kylian, David Bintley, and, if at all possible, Mark Morris," said Welch. Between running the Texas company and maintaining ties with Ballet Met as artistic associate and with The Australian Ballet as resident choreographer, he will have a lot on his plate. His full-length Don Quixote for BalletMet opens in April. In May, Welch will set a new version of Carmina Burana for American Ballet Theatre, and, slated for unveiling the same month, is a new work for San Francisco Ballet, based on Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major. "It's going to be some hopscotching for a while," admits Welch. "But it's exhilarating."