Interview with Adrian Durham

Guest Writer: Kelley Saucier, LCCB President

     Well, there aren’t that many guys at the ballet studio. The men are definitely outnumbered, but that hasn’t deterred 15 year old Adrian Durham. He’s at the studio as much as the girls, working hard and perfecting his craft.

     I’ve been around the studio a great deal during my time on the board, gotten to know the kids, but I realized that I had never talked to Adrian about how he arrived here. It turns out to be one of those stories you hear about in the movies about a movie. “I saw the movie Bojangles with Gregory Hines. After that, I started tap dancing all over the house. Margaret’s mom, Mrs. Lie, suggested I come to the studio to take tap. Then Lady Leah got me to be a Robot in Rudolph. That started my transition to ballet, and then I gave up tap.”

     Wow, just like that! Now Adrian not only takes company classes and rehearses 5-6 days per week, but he attended the Houston Ballet Academy's 2011 Summer Intensive and has been accepted to attend the 2012 Houston Ballet Summer Intensive. That’s intense training! I asked him how he decided to audition that first time in 2011. “Well, Katelyn’s mom, Mrs. Rhonda, suggested it, and I thought, ‘Why not?’ I wasn’t really serious about it; I just figured I’d try. Then I got in, so I decided I should go. That was the turning point. I loved it. Before Houston, I liked ballet, but after Houston, I decided that is definitely what I want to do. I would like to get into Houston Ballet and stay there after I graduate from High School.”

     Houston Ballet has not only inspired Adrian’s dream for a future in ballet, but it really gave him an opportunity to work with more male dancers and to focus on those skills particular to their gender. He says it was perfect timing because he may not have gotten the parts he has for Sleeping Beauty and Rudolph without that training. Both performances have included partnering skills, and he was able to do quite a bit of that in Houston.

     In both Sleeping Beauty and Rudolph, Adrian partners with Julia Basone. He says that they are very comfortable with the partnership and have worked together quite a bit in the studio. Their Russian dance in Rudolph was certainly a big hit with Lady Leah Lafargue Hathaway, artistic director emeritus of LCCB. I was watching one of the performances with her when she asked, “Who is that young man?” I answered, and she got over the fact that the young Robot is now a young man, she said, “Well, we need to use him more. He knows what he’s doing!”

     And that is why LCCB is grateful for the movie Bojangles!

     Adrian is the 15 year old son of Pat and Arthur Durham of Lake Charles. He is a homeschooled sophomore. Adrian has trained for 6 years with Lady Leah Lafargue School of the Dance and Lake Charles Civic Ballet. In 2011 Adrian participated in the Houston Ballet Academy's Summer Intensive and will attend again in 2012. Adrian has been in many LCCB productions, most recently sharing the stage with Julia Basone as Russian Dancers in the 2011 Rudolph production. They are pleased to be partnering in The Sleeping Beauty finale as Cinderella and Prince Charming.

Photos by Cameron Durham