Giant leap

Not very long ago, Alexandra (AJ) Walton was doing what so many little girls of Paddington do each week: wriggling out of her Glenmore Rd school uniform and into a pair of ballet tights and a pink leotard.

Heading to the Teresa Johnson Ballet School at Five Ways for classes, Walton would dance and stretch with the other little girls of the neighbourhood, enjoying the beauty and playfulness of dance. But as the other girls dropped out of dance one by one, for Walton, things became ever more serious.

“I have always loved ballet, but it wasn’t until I was about 13 or 14 that I started realising that this was something I really wanted to do as a career,” she says. “Dance makes me happy.”

Now 21, Walton’s past few years sound like a fairytale come true. After finishing year 9 at Ascham, she took up distance education so she could study dance more intensively. At just 16, after a year at Classical Ballet 121 under Gillian Revie, she was invited to the Youth America Grand Prix finals.

“After getting invited to the Youth America Grand Prix finals in New York, one of the teachers from the Houston Ballet Academy saw me and offered me a scholarship to attend the six-week summer intensive program,” she says.

“From there, I auditioned and got a year-round scholarship to train in the academy. I spent three years in the school and two years in the second company, until this year when I was offered an apprentice contract with the Houston Ballet main company. I have been a student there for five years and this year is now my first year with the company as an apprentice.”

Walton admits it was a daunting task to pack up her suitcase at just 16 to head to no less than Texas to begin a career as a dancer.

“It was definitely scary in the beginning,” she says. “And I did get homesick quite a lot. But I was kept extremely busy and lived in a dorm with 15 other people who were all in the same boat, so we figured it out together. I didn’t know what to expect but I’m a pretty resilient person.

“Whenever I come home, people get really worried about me being in the US and especially Texas. I’m always reassuring them that I’m fine because I live in a really safe area and Houston Ballet looks after their dancers so well, so I don’t feel unsafe at all.

“Of course, it's inevitable living in a place like Texas and watching the news that there are always things in the back of your head that are concerning. With all the laws changing, people’s concern for my safety has definitely increased recently but I am doing everything I can to stay safe, while still enjoying all Houston has to offer.”

Walton says that despite her homesickness, the rewards of being with Houston Ballet have outweighed the sadnesses.

“My entire family, both my parents and younger brother, are still back in Australia,” she says. “I actually don’t have a single relative living in the US, which makes it a little hard. I usually come back to Australia once or twice a year for a few weeks at a time, so I miss them a lot.

“Despite the challenges, I have also been given some amazing opportunities here in Houston, such as performing lead roles with the academy as well as performing with the corps de ballet of the main company on multiple occasions.

“I love the aspect of working hard and putting in the effort every single day to see results. Finding that inner motivation to push yourself and strive to dance better every day is why I have been doing it all these years.”

Walton says she is now hoping to rise through the ranks to become a principal dancer with the company.

“I am extremely happy where I am. I have an amazing job around amazing people, so I don’t see myself leaving anytime soon. My current plan is just to try and progress through the ranks of Houston Ballet and, hopefully, one day end up as a principal dancer at Houston Ballet, or somewhere in the world.”

She agrees she has come a long way since the days of filing into Teresa Johnson Ballet School with her fellow tiny dancers.

“I never ever could have imagined that starting out ballet in a little church hall and walking from Glenmore Rd with my friends after school to ballet would lead me to end up in a professional ballet company overseas,” Walton says.

“Teresa and the teachers at the school have taught me so many lifelong skills. They taught me to be a resilient, disciplined dancer and have encouraged my love of dance from the very beginning.

“And they fostered a caring and safe community that has given me so much guidance, opportunities, and endless support. They have been and are a constant in my life.”