What are the secrets of a long career? All dancers hope to perform for many years, digging deeper into their artistry with each new season. But often, their stage time gets cut short by injury, age-related loss of strength and flexibility, or simply burnout. We asked five longtime dancers what’s kept them going strong for so […]

Principal dancer with Houston Ballet I have always believed that things happen because it is written somewhere. Call it God, or destiny, but I think dance found me. I grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, and was 7 years old when my mother was asking people in the street for directions to folk-dancing classes for my […]

Leriche in Kyle Abraham’s Counterpoint. Photo by Todd Rosenberg, Courtesy HSDC. Emilie Leriche Both delicate and strong, Emilie Leriche can move with the softness of a cool puff of air or strike a pose worthy of the mythic huntress Diana. She crystallizes moments in time with the magic of a born performer. And she’s whip-smart—as […]

Could an intensive’s repertoire offerings be the key to your summer growth? Students of The School of Pennsylvania Ballet. Photo by Alexander Iziliaev, courtesy Pennsylvania Ballet. Ballet students live for “aha” moments, those little revelations that change the way you dance. And surprisingly often, those moments come outside of technique class, when you’re pushing yourself […]

Get Houston Ballet soloist Lauren Strongin’s eclectic look.   Jessica Collado of Houston Ballet has a layered, earthy look.

The Houston Ballet principal focuses on functional fitness.     Walsh in Forsythe’s The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude. Photo by Amitava Sarkar, Courtesy Houston Ballet.   Connor Walsh never used to cross-train. But a torn meniscus in February 2013 transformed his outlook. “It made me realize I needed to improve my ‘regular person’ strength, which […]

Melissa Hough has made shifting companies pay off.     Hough rehearses Swan Lake with Gakuro Matsui. Photo by Erik Berg, Courtesy Norwegian National Ballet.   A dancer’s career is a short one, and knowing how best to manage that time is critical. If you are not getting the roles you want, how long do […]

  Walsh improvising at home. Photo by Jaime Lagdameo, Courtesy Walsh.   Musical, charismatic, handsome—Joseph Walsh stood out at Houston Ballet even before he began dancing leads. Born in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Walsh, 25, studied at Walnut Hill School for the Arts before moving to HB’s Ben Stevenson Academy. He joined the main company in 2007 […]