On Pointe:
Summer Travel Prepares D.C. Youth for Ballet Careers
BY SASHA ROGELBERG
Students of Houston Ballet Academy
LAWRENCE ELIZABETH KNOX (2022), COURTESY OF
HOUSTON BALLET
S ummer is often synonymous with
fun for kids—a break from the school
year where they can see their friends,
participate in sports and activities or
just “be.”
But for children who have a passion for the
arts, it also offers another opportunity: time
to delve deeper into their craft—maybe even
far from home! That opportunity arose when
Houston Ballet came to Washington, D.C.,
earlier this year to scout for its pre-profes-
sional summer intensive.

From June 17 through July 22, 224
students ages 12-18 chosen for the program
from across the country will gain valuable
skills in independence as they set off on an
adventure to Texas.

Two local teens who auditioned through
the Washington Ballet look back on their
journey as past participants and reflect on
what the program has in store for them as
they return this year.

First position: Beginnings
Ballet dancers at the Houston Ballet in Texas
make the art look easy, flexing and pointing
their toes, weightlessly gliding through the
air, each move precise and synergetic with
the accompanying musical compositions.

But to perform on stage — in Texas or
elsewhere — requires years of training and
discipline. While some aspire to reach the
Houston Ballet at the apex of their careers,
other young dancers begin theirs at the bal-
let’s academy.

The Houston Ballet summer intensive
gives many young dancers the lift they need
to begin their careers. And for many, the
dream of a dance career starts not long after
they can walk.

Northeast Washington native Keaton
Linzau fell in love with “Swan Lake”
at age 3, listening to CDs of the Pyotr
Ilyich Tchaikovsky compositions in the
car with his mom. By age 12, he had
auditioned to be a child extra in the Kennedy
Center’s annual production of “The
Nutcracker.” “I had no ballet experience, but they just
needed kids that could kind of skip around
and be happy,” he says. “So, I auditioned and
got in, and then through doing that, they
were like, ‘Do you dance somewhere?’ and I
was like, ‘Well no’, and they were like, ‘Well
you should start dancing.’”
After studying at the Maryland Youth
Ballet, Linzau, now 18, auditioned for
the Houston Ballet’s summer program
in 2018 but didn’t attend until 2019. This
year, Linzau will join the program at the
Professional 2 level.

Second position: A prestigious
academy Houston is an unsuspecting locale for a
prestigious dance academy, but because
it’s an epicenter for energy companies and
is home to the Texas Medical Center, one
of the largest in the world, the city has
resources to spare. The Houston Grand
Opera and Houston Symphony have
helped cement the city as a hotbed for
the arts.

When the Houston Ballet’s academy
was founded in 1955, the city welcomed
it, according to Houston Ballet Executive
Director Jennifer Sommers.

“The arts community in Houston is
vibrant and diverse in every single way you
can define that term,” she says.

Linzau wasn’t the only young dancer
drawn to the program for its prestige.

Zachary Mench,18, from Fairfax, Virginia, has
been dancing for the past 10 years. Also par-
ticipating at the Pro 2 level, he auditioned
for the summer intensive as a chance to
develop his craft.

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