Firat Kazbek Özsoy

Ballet Faculty

Firat was born into a family of artists and started studying ballet at Hacettepe University National Conservatory in Ankara, Turkey. He is a graduate of the Hungarian Dance Academy in Budapest Hungary. After graduating with honors he moved to the United States, danced with Delta Festival Ballet, and worked with Fernando Bujones at Texas Christian University. He was invited to join the Houston Ballet where he danced for 7 years. Under the direction of Ben Stevenson and Stanton Welch, he performed the roles of Ptolomy in Cleopatra, Jester in Cinderella, Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland, Gopak in Nutcracker, Duet in Five Poems, Rooster in La Fille Mal Gardee, John in Peter Pan, Dr. Suess in Touched, Coyote in Tales of Texas, Pas de Cinq in Suite en Blanc, Jaguar in Fire Bird, Soloist in Ketubah, and Soloist in Miraculous Mandarin. He also performed various roles in Dracula, Sleeping Beauty, Snow Maiden, Coppelia, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Peer Gynt, Romeo and Juliet, Manon, Gloria, Second Before the Ground, The Shadow, Madame Butterfly, Divergence, Giselle, La Sylphide, Merry Widow, Etudes, and Graduation Ball. Mr. Özsoy is currently a guest teacher at the Ankara National Ballet and has been with University of Houston Dance Department since 2006.