Editing El Paso, Texas (section)

===Performing arts===

[[File:Viva El Paso 2015.jpg|thumb|right|Viva! El Paso performance at the [[McKelligon Canyon]] Amphitheatre]]
The outdoor musical extravaganza ''[[Viva! El Paso]]'' is performed in the McKelligon Canyon Amphitheatre. It is locally produced and chronicles the 400-year history and cultural evolution of the El Paso region. The show is performed each Friday and Saturday night in June, July, and August. It has entertained local residents and out-of-town visitors for over 35 years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.viva-ep.org/ |title=VIVA! EL PASO |year=2011 |access-date=February 8, 2014}}</ref>

The El Paso Symphony was established in the 1930s, and is the oldest performing-arts organization in El Paso and the longest continuously running symphony orchestra in Texas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.epso.org/|title=El Paso Symphony | access-date=March 26, 2013}}</ref> It has received both national and international recognition as a result of its very successful tours of Germany in 1996 and Turkey in 2000, and continues to represent the El Paso region with pride and distinction.
The El Paso Symphony Orchestra Association season is anchored by 12 classical concerts. Special events serve as outreach toward new audiences.

Ballet was largely nonexistent in El Paso until the arrival of [[Ingeborg Heuser]], a professional ballerina from Germany, in the 1950s. Heuser taught ballet at UTEP for 47 years and founded the city's first professional ballet company, firstly known as Texas Western Civic Ballet and eventually as ''Ballet El Paso''. The company dissipated due to financial trouble in 1997 and Heuser retired from UTEP soon after.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://epcc.libguides.com/content.php?pid=309255&sid=2891483|title=Ingeborg Heuser Brought Professional Ballet to City 29 (2011) – Borderlands – Library Research Guides at El Paso Community College|first=Rachel|last=Murphree}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.digie.org/en/media/14362|title=Ingeborg Heuser &#124; wall|website=Digie.org|access-date=February 15, 2022}}</ref> The El Paso Youth Ballet was founded in 2009 by Heuser's student, Marta Katz, following Heuser's departure from the university. With students from the youth ballet, Heuser staged her last ''Nutcracker'' in 2006. The youth company continues to perform the ''Nutcracker'' and other preprofessional pieces in and around the El Paso area. The company provides the only platform for young ballet dancers to train and perform at such a level within the city since the folding of Ballet El Paso.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.elpasoconservatoryofdance.com/el_paso_youth_ballet|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140830232832/http://elpasoconservatoryofdance.com/el_paso_youth_ballet|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 30, 2014|title=El Paso Conservatory of Dance}}</ref>

El Paso City Ballet is a current professional ballet company in El Paso, providing local employment for professional dancers in the field of ballet. The company performs a variety of classical and contemporary works choreographed by Artistic Director Lisa Skaf and artists from the US and Latin America.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.elpasocityballet.org/index.html|title=El Paso City Ballet – Home|work=El Paso City Ballet|access-date=September 14, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202181055/http://www.elpasocityballet.org/index.html|archive-date=February 2, 2014}}</ref> It has been active since 2005, performing yearly productions.