Houston Ballet Down Under #5: A Trip to the Bloch Store

July 4, 2016


From June 24–July 10, Houston Ballet is embarking on its biggest tour yet to Melbourne, Australia, hometown of artistic director Stanton Welch.
Pointe asked demi-soloist Jacquelyn Long to keep a diary of her experiences.


Madeline Skelly and Natalie Varnum at the Bloch store.

July 3, 2016

Hey everyone, I hope you have been enjoying my posts! We had three shows and a tech rehearsal since my last one and we just enjoyed a nice day off.

A lot of us have been shopping at some of the local Australian shops in our time off and updating our dance wardrobe. For instance, we’ve been frequenting the Bloch store, which is based in Australia! The most popular purchases have been their booties and warm ups. Also, dancers of the Australian Ballet have a line called Keto Dancewear that many of us have been quick to purchase! Below I am pictured with a group of us sporting our new leos and tights.


Sporting our new leos (from left): myself, Katherine Precourt, Melody Mennite, Kaleigh Courts, Jordan Veit, Emily Seymour and Natalie Varnum.

 


Nao Kusuzaki. Photo by Chunwei Chan, Courtesy Long.

We had a birthday on our day off: Nao Kusuzaki! Nao is another dancer who will be ending her career here in Australia. She joined the Houston Ballet from Boston Ballet in 2004 and was promoted to soloist in 2008. Nao dances with a grace that will be missed. She will be studying to achieve a business degree.

Well, Happy Independence Day to everyone in America! It feels strange to not be home to see any fireworks, but we have another show tonight. It is the premiere of the third cast of leads, so I’m sure that will be exciting!

 

XO,

Jacquelyn

 

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