China gives dance gift as Houston Ballet is 50

About 30 dancers gathered in the Houston Ballet's fifth-floor practice hall on a Friday afternoon in mid-August. Under the guidance of Zhang Disha, a Chinese dancer and choreographer, the dancers repeatedly rehearsed a segment of roughly five minutes.

It was nearing the end of Zhang's three-week session with the company. Invited to choreograph a piece for Houston Ballet's 50th anniversary celebration, Zhang was trying to perfect the performance of her new ballet, Elapse, for its Sept 19 premiere.

With translation help from Thea Liao, a former company member, by the end of one hour, the performance had markedly improved.