The multiple choices of Melissa Hough: ballet? Jazz? Tap? Hip-hop? How about all of the above? - teenage dancer currently apprenticing with Boston Ballet II - Interview

Dance Magazine, Sept, 2003 by Darrah Carr

If you could apprentice with a ballet company, perform in a Broadway show, or tour with a pop star, which would you choose? If all three sound appealing, then welcome to the world of Melissa Hough. The 18-year-old Maryland native excels in ballet, jazz, lyrical, hip-hop, and tap, and has achieved great success in each. After graduating in May 2002 from the former Kirov Academy of Ballet (now the Universal Ballet Academy) in Washington, D.C., Hough landed a one-year apprenticeship with BalletMet Columbus, then plunged into competitions. She was named the Women's Senior Outstanding Dancer during the New York City Dance Alliance Convention and received a Jury Award of Encouragement at the USA International Ballet Competition.

"It [2002] was an amazing summer." Hough reflects. "I'm blessed to have so many things I can do. but it's also hard to have so many options for my career. I want to make the best choice and I'm not sure what that is right now."

Fortunately, Hough has not yet had to choose. Last season, while dancing with BalletMet, Stanton Welch picked her to solo in Don Quixote. Meanwhile, she spent many weekends touring as jazz dance master teacher Joe Lanteri's demonstrator with NYC Dance Alliance and performing last summer's winning solo at events such as Jazz Dance World Congress in Chicago. Hough began a new apprenticeship contract with Boston Ballet II in August and is excited about learning the company's contemporary ballet repertoire. She hopes to continue traveling with NYC Dance Alliance as well.

"I see two sides of the dance world and hear many perspectives. But there are also misperceptions," she notes. "Ballet dancers often don't respect how many different styles there are in jazz, while jazz dancers don't understand how hard the ballet world is. [So many people] don't understand each other, which is incredible to me, because we are all in the dance world together." Hough doesn't put herself on either side. "I am a dancer," she says. "If someone asks me what kind, I say, 'I'm dancing for Boston Ballet II right now.'"

Hough credits her parents, both musicians, with giving her an early appreciation of music, which helps her switch easily between dance styles today. "Dancing comes through music. Put on Britney, and I'll do hip-hop. Put on classical, and I'll do ballet," Hough explains. Rather than feeling contradictory pulls, she finds that different styles inform each other. "My strengths in ballet stem from jazz--jumps, multiple turns. Jazz competitions require big power moves. So, in ballet, I can do jumps that men usually do. And my ballet training helps me stand out from other jazz dancers as a really strong technician."

Forever interested in stylistic differences, Hough recently began ballroom dance lessons. "I'm taking privates, breaking down the technique. It's a whole new outlook," she marvels. "It's smart to be versatile and keep your options open. Maybe when I'm 60 I'll be a professional ballroom dancer. I might as well learn it now."

Darrah Cart is a New York City based writer, choreographer, and teacher, active in both the Irish and modern dance communities.