‘All Kinds of Colors, Dancing Everywhere’
“I get to go in and teach kids, through movement, about life, learning, themselves, setting goals, and realizing that hard work helps them achieve their goals.”
For ballet fans, the arrival of fall means Nutcracker season. It’s a tradition Lauren Anderson holds dear. The retired Houston dancer has performed nearly every role in Tchaikovsky’s enduring work, going back to 1972 when she was one of Mother Ginger’s children in the Houston Ballet’s first-ever production of the holiday classic. Upon joining the company in 1983, she played the lead role of Sugar Plum Fairy. Anderson’s experience paid off when, in 1990, the Houston Ballet promoted her to principal dancer, making her the first African American to hold the position in the company.
Over the next 15 years, working with renowned choreographer Ben Stevenson, Anderson danced her way through , , , and countless other works. After retiring in 2006, Anderson stayed with the Houston Ballet as the company’s program manager of education and community engagement, providing dance instruction at disadvantaged schools.
