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choreographers he's had the opportunity to work with. "Some will come in with their choreography already set, and you just put it to the music," he says. "Some are very experimental to the point that they come in and say, 'Can you pretend to be a bird?' and we go around the room and … pretend to be birds. Cathy Marston was very much like that. She would say, 'How would an angel walk?' 'How could a sculpture shift?' Arthur Pita did a ballet inspired by The Beach Boys: We had to come up with words for things we'd do on a beach — toss a ball or build a sandcastle or go swimming. He'd put the words on a mirror, and we had to improvise." Watters calls such ventures "training the brain," then ponders, "I think we're all very accustomed to how Stanton choreographs because we're with him the most. It's always a culture shock when someone comes in with a new process. It's a little bit tricky to let go of how you like to work and put yourself in a new brain, but these are also opportunities that allow us as artists to have a bit more say or creativity." As the conversation shifts to music, Watters lights up. "I'm a big music person. I think one of the things that made me want to come to this company was seeing works by Stanton that were set to classical music but had this compelling beat and rhythm," he says. "This season, we're doing Jirí Kylián's Petite Mort with an incredible rhythmic score that uses music from two of Mozart's piano concertos [Piano Concerto No. 23, K. 488, II. Adagio; Piano Concerto No. 21, K.467, II. Andante). It unlocked something — made me feel something — that dictated movement provided by the music. But I'm also a counts person when learning choreography. A lot of people will just do it on the sound. I need a one, two, three, four. Tell me when to do that, and then once I have the structure, I can create the freedom of movement. I think of it like interior design. If you don't have a well-built house, there's no point decorating something without a foundation." At age 33, Watters has spent more than half his life at Houston Ballet. He's built his foundation and is now decorating his career — bringing beauty, innovation, excellence, and sheer enjoyment to the city. Has he ever thought of leaving? Going perhaps to one of the other coasts? "I've never had the impulse to leave, and — without getting emotional — I've always been supported here," he says. "When I look at my old online posts, I see such freedom and someone who's been allowed to soar. And that doesn't happen in one year. That happens in 15 years. I feel as if my story as a dancer started here and is meant to end here." Houston Ballet has given Harper Watters a ladder to the stars. Now he is one. 71