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Backstage at Jacob's Pillow: Inside Houston Ballet's Opening Night

Pointe Magazine

August 16, 2018

All week
, Houston Ballet soloist Harper Watters has been giving us the inside scoop on the company’s tour to Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. In this last installment, we’ll see how the dancers prep for opening night (hint: it involves a good nap and plenty of coffee). Plus, we’ll catch glimpses of the show.

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Career

Abigail Brent stands onstage in sus-sous onstage. She holds her arms out to the side, bent at the elbows like a mechanical doll and kisses the air. She wears a red white and blue velvet jacket and short skirt, with a star-spangled cumberband, pink tights, pointe shoes and red crown. She also has red felt circles glued onto her cheeks. Young dancers sit on the floor and watch her dance.

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Jonathan Klein holds Emily Hayes up in the air as she arches back, tucking her left leg into passé as she bends her right knee around his ribcage. She holds her hands close to her collarbone and looks out over her right shoulder. Hayes wears a long, blue polka-dotted dress with a large slit up the middle, a dark leotard underneath and pink pointe shoes. Klein wears a dark jacket and white tights.

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Seth Orza performs in a tavern scene from the ballet Don Quizote. He jumps straight up, his right leg in passé back, and holds his right arm up and places his left hand on his left hip. He looks out over his left shoulder and smiles. Orza wears a white peasant blouse, short gray sleeveless vest, black cumberbund, red knickers and white tights and ballet slippers. A long table full of food is in the background, and other dancers sit and mill about. The set backdrop shows a Spanish city.

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Michelle Martin, wearing a gray shirt and black pants, stands with her arms held low in front of her, wrists crossed, and her shoulders at a slight angle. She looks into a mirror (not shown) at two lines of female dancers behind her, who make the same pose while standing in B plus. The dancers wear various leotards and short skirts, pink tights and pointe shoes.

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