How graceful it is to be a ballerina!
It’s great workout for the
body and relaxing to watch.
We hear about Ballerinas,
but what stands out most
is the African American
ballerina.
African American Lauren Anderson is a ballerina.
She resides in the area of HOuston. Her years of
dancing Houson Ballet is from 1983 to 2006. She
has taken leading roles in great classical ballets, and
becoming HOuston Ballet’s most beloved stars.
By January 2007, Ms. Anderson began her new role
as outreach associate in Houston Ballet education
department where she taught ballet classes
at Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy.
Also, she conducts master classes at
area schools and lectures to students on
dance and she talks about her historic
career as an African American ballerina.
From the young age of 7, she trained at Houston
Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy. She
joined Houston Ballet in 1983 and in 1990
became the first African American to be
principal dancer at Houston Ballet.
And to add to that, she was one of the few
African American ballerinas at the head of a
major ballet company throughout the world.
To top that off, she received the Special
Jury Award at the 1990 International Ballet
Competition as well as the International
Critics Award in CHile.
Ms. Anderson danced with the top roles
in many classical ballets. You can find
her in works by George Balanchine, Sir
Kenneth MacMillan, Christopher Bruce,
James Kudelka, and Trey MCINtyre.
Ms. Anderson came up with the title
role in Ben Stevenson’s Cleopatra,
and her performance as Cleopatra
received so many praises from
international critics.
A note on Cleopatra, the Egyptians
were Black people anyways, so how
fitting of her to get that part. Christine Temin
of the Boston Globe described her as a
powerhouse in interpreting the role she
took. Lauren strutted her stuff in New YOrk,
Chile, Moscow, and Chicago.
By April 1999, Lauren was featured on the cover
of Dance Magazine. She’s been featured in
magazines like People and Pointe and tv
programs like A&E Breakfast With the Arts,
CBS News SUnday Morning, the Game Show
to Tell the Truth.
Her honors come from the Martin Luther King
Foundation, Coalition of 100 Black Women,
YWCA, by the Urban League, Delta Gamma
Foundation, Texas WOman’s Chamber of
COmmerce, HOuston City Council, and
the Texas Legislature.
Ms. Anderson is an honorary member of
ALpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. She
has even been appointed Artist in Residence
of the Fine Arts Department at Texas Southern
University.
http://www.houstonballet.org/Outreach_Education/Lauren_Anderson_Outreach_Associate/
