Kelly Myernick, FIRST soloist 

Birthplace
Portland, Oregon

Dance Training
Susquehanah School of Ballet
Springs City Ballet
Houston Ballet's Ben Stevenson Academy

Joined the Company
2000

Promoted to First Soloist
2008

Favorite Role
Woman in Purple, Stanton Welch's Red Earth

One defining moment...
The first time I danced the role of the Snow Queen in The Nutcracker  for my mother. It was always a huge dream of mine to dance that role for her. Taking my curtain call, I felt like I was thanking her for all of her sacrifices.

Kelly Myernick received her early ballet training at The Susquehanah School of Ballet in Oneonta, New York and later the Springs City Ballet in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  In 1996, Ms. Myernick accepted a scholarship to become a full time student at Houston Ballet's Ben Stevenson Academy, receiving the Michael Wasmund Memorial Award upon graduation in 2000.  She joined Houston Ballet as an apprentice in July of 2000, and was promoted to the corps de ballet later that season. She became a soloist in 2004.  Ms. Myernick’s most featured classical repertoire includes Myrtha in Giselle, The Snow Queen in The Nutcracker, Kate in Madame Butterfly, the Hungarian Princess in Swan Lake, the Fairy Tempermant in The Sleeping Beauty, Flora in Dracula, and Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet.  Her favorite contemporary work includes Balanchine’s Apollo and Serenade; Christopher Bruce’s Ghost Dances, Hush, and Sergeant Early’s Dream; Jiří Kylián's Forgotten Land and Svadebka; Hans Van Manen’s Grosse Fuge; Mark Morris’ Sandpaper Ballet; Trey McIntyre’s Second Before the Ground; Brian Enos’ Dark and Lovely Mmm; Jerome Robbins The Concert; Lila York’s Celts; and Stanton Welch’s Indigo, Maninyas, Red Earth, and Velocity.  Ms. Myernick has been fortunate enough to perform with other Houston based dance companies including Dominic Walsh Dance Theatre and Hopestone Dance.