Simon Ball, Principal
Birthplace
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Dance Training
The Conservatory at Point Park College
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre
Joined the Company as a Principal
2003
Other Companies
Boston Ballet
Favorite Role
Albrecht in Giselle
Review
"The form of Ballo, with its rapid-fire sequence of solos danced by the principal couples - performed by Pollyana Ribeiro with Simon Ball - and the four female soloists... were indeed independent bursts in an overall grand display of balletic fireworks." -S.E. Arnold (criticaldance.com review of the ballet Ballo della Regina)
One defining moment...
Dancing on the stage of the National Ballet of Cuba.
Simon Ball joined Houston Ballet as a principal dancer in July 2003. He studied with School of American Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, The Conservatory of Point Park College, and The School of Classical Ballet (American Ballet Theatre's training program). Before becoming a professional, he also performed as a guest artist with many companies in the United States and abroad.
Mr. Ball began his professional career in 1995 as a member of the corps de ballet at Boston Ballet. He was promoted to soloist in 1996, then to principal in 1999, where he remained until 2003. Mr. Ball has performed leading roles in many important works including: Prince in The Sleeping Beauty; the slave in Le Corsaire (staged by Anna Marie Holmes and Natalia Dudinskaya); Oberon in Bruce Wells’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream; the prince in Cinderella (staged by Michael Corder), and Mr. Corder’s Danses Concertant; Albrecht in Giselle (staged by Maina Gielgud); Romeo in Rudi van Dantzig’s Romeo and Juliet; Basilio in Don Quixote; Siegfried in Swan Lake; Colas in Sir Frederick Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée; Vershinin in Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Winter Dreams; the title role in John Cranko’s Onegin; Pinkerton in Stanton Welch’s Madame Butterfly; the Bugle Boy in Paul Taylor’s Company B; William Forsythe’s In the middle, somewhat elevated; Nacho Duato’s Jardi Tancat and Without Words; Twyla Tharp’s Waterbaby Bagatelles; Mark Morris’ Maelstrom; and Christopher Wheeldon’s Corybantic Ecstasies, The Four Seasons, and Ivan in Mr. Wheeldon’s staging of The Firebird. Mr. Ball has also performed ballets by George Balanchine including Divertimento No. 15, the Waltz in Serenade, Symphony in C, Theme and Variations, Ballo della Regina, Apollo, La Valse, Prodigal Son, Monumentum Pro Gesualdo, and Movements. Since joining Houston Ballet Mr. Ball has also been featured in Mr. Welch's A Dance in the Garden of Mirth, Tales of Texas, Nosotros, and Divergence.
Mr. Ball also received a number of prestigious awards including the Margarite Amelita Hoffman scholarship at the international ballet competition in Jackson, Mississippi (1990); the gold medal at the First International Ballet Competition in memory of Rudolf Nureyev (1994) in Budapest, Hungary; and the gold medal at the international ballet competition in Jackson, Mississippi (1994). He was invited to perform at the Benois de la Danse in Berlin, Germany (1999).
Houston Ballet's Simon Ball
Resource Links Below
Video:
Christopher Wheeldon's Carousel (A Dance)
Interview:
Watch Simon Ball talk about Houston Ballet's new Center for Dance - Bloomberg
Headshot by: Rafi Claudio
Photo: Drew Donovan
