Lauren Anderson (dancer)
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Lauren Anderson (born February 19, 1965) is an American
ballet dancer A ballet dancer is a person who practices the Art (skill), art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. B ...
and a former
principal dancer A principal dancer (often shortened to principal) is a dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company. A principal may be either gender. The position is similar to that of ''Soloist (ballet), solois ...
with the Houston Ballet. In 1990, she was one of the first African-American ballerinas to become a principal for a major dance company, an important milestone in American ballet. She appeared in many ballets such as ''
Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...
'', ''
Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...
'', and ''
The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...
''. She retired from the Houston Ballet in 2006 and retired from dance altogether in 2009. In 2016, Anderson had her
pointe shoe A pointe shoe (, ), also referred to as a ''ballet shoe'', is a type of shoe worn by ballet dancers when performing pointe technique, pointe work. Pointe shoes were conceived in response to the desire for dancers to appear weightless and sylph-li ...
s from her final performance placed in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.


Early life and education

Lauren was the only child of Lawrence Anderson, a school administrator, and Doris Parker-Morales, a classical piano teacher. She was born in
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
, Texas, on February 19, 1965. Anderson started dance lessons and lessons to learn the violin, but she chose to continue with dance instead of music due to the cost of lessons for both, and she felt that she could always pick up violin later in life. From the age of seven she trained at Houston Ballet's Ben Stevenson Academy. She saw a performance of Arthur Mitchell's company
Dance Theatre of Harlem Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) is an American professional ballet company and school based in Harlem, New York City. It was founded in 1969 under the directorship of Arthur Mitchell and later partnered with Karel Shook. Milton Rosenstock served ...
which exposed her to ballerinas that looked like her since there weren't many African American ballerinas to look up to. After starting lessons at the academy, Anderson performed in the ballet company's first production of
The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...
. She is a Houston native and graduated from Lamar High School in 1982. She attended the
Houston Independent School District The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest Public school (government funded), public school system in Texas, and the eighth-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the ci ...
instead of Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts because there were projects due that would've interfered with her Nutcracker season rehearsals. While she attended the Stevenson Academy, Anderson began to become more serious about ballet, but she was told by Ben Stevenson that her body was too muscular to be successful in ballet, and that she would be better in
musical theater Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, moveme ...
. Instead, Anderson started a meatless diet to slim down and started taking Pilates classes to lengthen her muscles.


Career

Anderson joined the Houston Ballet in 1983 at age 18 in the corps de ballet, and she was promoted to soloist four years later. Anderson became the first African American
principal dancer A principal dancer (often shortened to principal) is a dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company. A principal may be either gender. The position is similar to that of ''Soloist (ballet), solois ...
at the Houston Ballet in 1990 . She was the second African-American female ballet dancer to be promoted to principal dancer at a major American ballet company, eight years after Debra Austin was promoted at the Pennsylvania Ballet. Her performance of the title role in ''Cleopatra'' gave her international recognition. She has also performed works by
George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze;, Romanization of Georgian, : April 30, 1983) was a Georgian-American ballet choreographer, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers ...
, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, and Christopher Bruce, among others. Anderson originated the role of
Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...
in the ballet of the same name created by Ben Stevenson, and her performance received reviews; the ''
Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'' called Anderson "a powerhouse in interpreting the role that Stevenson created on her." Anderson was the first African-American principal dancer at Houston Ballet and the only African-American prima ballerina at the head of a major ballet company anywhere in the world. In 1990, Anderson was the recipient of the Special Jury Award at the International Ballet Competition, and she received the International Critics Award. Anderson retired from performance in 2006. In January 2007, she became an outreach associate in the Houston Ballet's Education and Community Engagement program. In that capacity, she teaches ballet classes at Houston Ballet's academy and conducts master classes at schools in the Houston area. She is also in demand as a lecturer on the subject of ballet. Also, in 2016, Anderson had her pointe shoes from her final performance placed in the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.


Personal life

Anderson married Chris Stanaway in 2021. She has one son with former husband and jazz saxophonist Kyle Turner, who was born on April 30, 2003. Anderson is a devout Christian, and attends St. James Episcopal Church in Houston, where she is involved in forming the dance ministry ensemble, Holy Spirit Dancers. She often teaches at a professional school called "The Link School of the Arts" in Michigan. She calls The Link her "second home". In 2019, Anderson revealed that until July 2009 that she was an
alcoholic Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World Hea ...
. She was pulled over for speeding, and she soon found herself in county jail. After winding up in court, Anderson had a wake-up call from the judge. From that day on, Anderson has been sober and attends
Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a global, peer-led Mutual aid, mutual-aid fellowship focused on an abstinence-based recovery model from alcoholism through its spiritually inclined twelve-step program. AA's Twelve Traditions, besides emphasizing anon ...
meetings everyday no matter where she is. Since then, Anderson has been teaching classes to students all over to expose them to ballet by teaching lectures and movement classes.


References


External links


Video Interview with Lauren Anderson (February 7, 2012)
* Anderson, Loren and Linda Lorelle
Lauren Anderson Oral History
Houston Oral History Project, October 31, 2007.
Video of Lauren Anderson dancing with the Houston Ballet, "Lauren Anderson Carlos Acosta Don Quijote"
YouTube.
Video of Lauren Anderson dancing with the Houston Ballet, "Ballet Etudes"
YouTube. {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Lauren African-American ballerinas Houston Ballet principal dancers Lamar High School (Houston) alumni Entertainers from Houston Living people 1965 births 20th-century American dancers 21st-century American dancers Dancers from Texas 21st-century American women artists 21st-century African-American women