Melissa Hough (born 1985/1986) is an American ballet dancer who is currently a principal dancer with the

Norwegian National Ballet The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet ( no, Den Norske Opera & Ballett, links=no) is a Norwegian opera company and ballet company. The first fully professional company each for opera and ballet in Norway and the only such professional organisati ...

. She was previously a principal dancer with the

Boston Ballet The Boston Ballet is an American professional classical ballet company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams and Sydney Leonard, and was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. I ...

and a first soloist with the

Houston Ballet Houston Ballet, operated by Houston Ballet Foundation, is a professional ballet company based in Houston, Texas. The company, consisting of 59 dancers, produces over 85 performances per year. History Tatiana Semenova (1955–1967) Houston dev ...

Early life

Hough was born in Maryland, both of her parents are retired

United States Army Field Band The United States Army Field Band of Washington, D.C. is a touring musical organization of the United States Army. It performs more than 400 concerts per year and has performed in all 50 states of the United States and in 25 countries. Statione ...

musicians. She started dancing at age 3, and switched to a competitive local studio at age 7, where she learned different dance styles. At age 13, she entered the

Kirov Academy of Ballet The Kirov Academy of Ballet (formerly the Universal Ballet Academy) was a ballet school in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1989. It closed in May 2022 due to financial issues. Facilities The Kirov is located on a 1.2 acre campus in northeast ...

in Washington DC, under

Alla Sizova Alla Sizova (22 September 1939 – 23 November 2014) was a Russian ballet dancer, best known for her work with the Kirov Ballet. She was one of the four superstar ballerinas of the Soviet Union along with Natalia Makarova, Alla Osipenko and Irina ...

, but continued dancing with the local studio until she was 17.

Career

Hough was an apprentice with the

BalletMet BalletMet is an American ballet company and academy based in Columbus, Ohio. Located in downtown Columbus, BalletMet facilities include a black box theatre performance space, seven dance studios, administrative offices and costume and scene shops ...

in Columbus, Ohio for a year, then joined the Boston Ballet II. She was taken to the main company's corps de ballet at age 19, and was promoted to soloist at age 22. In 2009, at age 24, she was made principal dancer. She was mainly cast in

contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

works, but got more classical roles after she won a bronze medal at the Helsinki International Ballet Competition by dancing a variation from '' The Sleeping Beauty''. Due to frustration with the lack of opportunities to dance classical roles in Boston Ballet, Hough sent a video of her to

Stanton Welch Stanton De Burgh Welch (born 1969) is an Australian dancer and choreographer. He currently serves as the Artistic Director of the Houston Ballet. Early life Welch was born in Melbourne to Marilyn Jones and Garth Welch, two prominent Australian ...

, the artistic director of the

, whom she met at BalletMet, and was offered a soloist contract. Hough said she chose to join Houston Ballet was because of its repertoire and facilities. She made her company debut with "Rubies" and "Diamonds" from

George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...

's ''

Jewels A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, a ...

''. She was promoted to first soloist in 2012. In 2013, she moved to Oslo to join the

. The following year, she appeared in the filmed version of

Alexander Ekman Karl Wilhelm Alexander Ekman (born 1984) is a Swedish ballet dancer and choreographer. His choreographies have been performed by Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, the Boston Ballet, the Semperoper Ballett, the Nederlands Dans Theater, the Norwegian ...

's ''A Swan Lake'' as the Black Swan. She is currently a principal dancer. As a choreographer, Hough had created works for the Norwegian National Ballet's Sleepless Beauty program. She is set to return to Boston Ballet to choreograph for the choreograpHER program.

Personal life

Hough has a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hough, Melissa 1980s births Living people American ballerinas 21st-century American ballet dancers Dancers from Maryland Boston Ballet principal dancers Houston Ballet soloists American expatriates in Norway 21st-century American women