Connor Walsh: From Maryland's Eastern Shore to Principal Dancer at Houston Ballet

"Dance Talk” ® with Joanne Carey and special guest Connor Walsh SJoin host Joanne Carey for Episode 3 of a 4-part Series highlighting Houston Ballet & YAGP! Joanne welcomes principal dancer and YAGP Alum, Connor Walsh, principal dancer at Houston Ballet, as he shares his journey from childhood on Maryland's Eastern Shore to the heights of ballet as a principal with Houston Ballet. Together they discuss insights on dance education, the importance of collaboration, and tips for aspiring dancers as well as the impact YAGP had and continues to have on Connor. They also discuss the upcoming YAGP Houston event May 10-18. Get your tickets!Connor Walsh was born in Fairfax, Virginia and began his training at the age of seven under the direction of his mother Constance Walsh. He has trained at The Kirov Academy of Ballet, The Harid Conservatory, and Houston Ballet’s BenStevenson Academy, where he was awarded the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation Scholarship and the Ben Stevenson Scholarship award. In 2004, he won the first annual gold award from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA), and was given the Award of Encouragement at the Shanghai International Ballet Competition. In 2004, Walsh joined Houston Ballet’s company as a member of the corps de ballet. He was quickly promoted to soloist in 2006 and then to principal dancer in 2007. Walsh has originated lead roles in Stanton Welch’s The Nutcracker (The Prince), Romeo and Juliet (Romeo), Giselle (Albrecht), Marie (Count Axel von Fersen), and La Bayadère (Solor).  He has danced major roles in numerous full-length ballets including John Cranko’s Onegin (Lensky) and The Taming of the Shrew (Petruchio), Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon (Des Grieux) and Mayerling (Prince Rudolf), John Neumeier's A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Theseus / Oberon, Puck) and The Little Mermaid (The Poet), Sir Frederick Ashton’s La Fille mal Gardée (Colas), Ronald Hynd’s The Merry Widow (Camille), Ben Stevenson’s Don Quixote (Basilio), The Sleeping Beauty (Prince Florimund), and Dracula (Fredrick), Sir David Bintley’s Aladdin (Aladdin) and The Tempest (Ferdinand), Trey McIntyre’s Peter Pan (Merman), and  Stanton Welch’s Swan Lake (Siegfried), Marie (Count Axel Fersen and King Louis XVI), Madame Butterfly (Pinkerton), La Sylphide (James), and Cinderella (The Prince and Dandini).Walsh’s repertory also includes works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Jiří Kylián, William Forsythe, Justin Peck, Alexander Ekman, Wayne McGregor, Christopher Wheeldon, Twyla Tharp, Hans Van Manen, Glen Tetley, Christopher Bruce, Antony Tudor, Nacho Duato and Serge Lifar, Melissa Barak. One act creations include Stanton Welch, Aszure Barton, Edwaard Liang, Mark Morris, James Kudelka, Nicolo Fonte, Melissa Hough, and Garrett Smith among others.In recent years Walsh has expanded his reach into teaching, coaching and choreographing. In 2015, along with fellow Houston Ballet company members Oliver Halkowich and Melody Walsh, Walsh founded REACH - a choreographic project that raises money for arts education in schools.  Following the success of REACH, Walsh and his colleagues were invited to create a world premiere, entitled What we keep, for Houston Ballet in spring of 2018.  Walsh’s world premiere A Joyous Trilogy (in flight) created for Houston Ballet and set to music by Quinn Mason took the Wortham stage on June 2, 2022. Walsh enjoys teaching, coaching and choreographing as well as participating in many forms of dance.  He is also a soccer fanatic as well as food enthusiast.Houston Ballet⁠https://www.houstonballet.org/⁠YAGP⁠https://yagp.org/⁠Tickets for YAGP Houston⁠https://yagp.org/yagp-2026-houston-tx-finals/⁠“Dance Talk” ® with Joanne Carey "Where the Dance World Connects, the Conversations Inspire, and Where We Are Keeping Them Real."⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://dancetalkwithjoannecarey.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Please leave us a Review.Please help support the podcast:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://gofund.me/e561b42ac⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠