Jaclyn Ruiz moved to Houston, Texas from Fredericksburg, Virginia in 1999 to train with the Houston Ballet Academy on full scholarship.  Upon graduation she was awarded the Michael Wasmund Award for her love and dedication to ballet.  She joined Houston Ballet in 2001, and later joined Texas Ballet Theater in 2002 under the direction of Ben Stevenson, O.B.E. where she met and danced alongside Enrica and Chung-Lin Tseng.

 

During her tenure at Texas Ballet Theater, she danced many soloist roles including the third movement Pas de Deux from Ben Stevenson’s Four Last Songs, Rosaline in Romeo and Juliet, Big Swans in Swan Lake, Summer Fairy in Cinderella, Fairy Beauty and Pas de Quatre in The Sleeping Beauty, and the lead Spanish Girl in Don Quixote. Some of her favorite ballets include Ben Stevenson’s Dracula and Peer Gynt.  She has enjoyed performing in many Balanchine works including Serenade, Who Cares?, and Theme and Variations, as well as Val Caniparoli’s Lambarena. 

 

Jaclyn retired from the stage in 2013.  She is excited to join the staff of Ballet Frontier and to share her knowledge with the company dancers.