Reid Anderson (dancer)

Reid Anderson (born April 1, 1949 in New Westminster , British Columbia , Canada ) is a Canadian dancer and ballet director . From 1996 to 2018 he was the artistic director of the Stuttgart Ballet , of which he was a dancer from 1969 to 1985.

Dancer career

Anderson began his dance training at Dolores Kirkwood Academy in Burnaby, British Columbia. At the age of 17 he was awarded a scholarship to study at the Royal Ballet School in London , England. A year later John Cranko engaged him at the Stuttgart Ballet, to which he was a dancer for 17 years, from 1969 to 1985. In 1974, after the death of John Cranko, his successors made him soloist and in 1978 principal soloist.

According to the profile of the company, Anderson danced in both classical and contemporary pieces. He has worked with some of the leading choreographers of the 20th century, including John Cranko, Sir Kenneth MacMillan , Glen Tetley , John Neumeier , Jiří Kylián and William Forsythe . His famous partners include the ballerinas Marcia Haydée , Karen Kain and Natalja Makarova .

Directed the Ballet British Columbia and the National Ballet of Canada

In 1984 Anderson directed and produced Onegin for the National Ballet of Canada. The production was broadcast on television in 1986 and was nominated for an Emmy Award.

From August 1987 to June 1989 Reid Anderson was ballet director of the Ballet British Columbia in Vancouver and was appointed ballet director of the National Ballet of Canada in Toronto in July 1989, which he directed until 1996.

Director of the Stuttgart Ballet

In 1996 Reid Anderson returned to the Stuttgart Ballet as Artistic Director and successor to Marcia Haydée and was appointed Ballet Director at the end of this season. Reid Anderson successfully practices a repertoire design in which, in addition to cultivating the Cranko legacy and the high school of classical ballet, the discovery and promotion of young talent occupies a large space and the works of established contemporary choreographers form a further focus.

Since the beginning of its directorship, the Stuttgart Ballet has premiered more than 60 works by choreographers of the younger generation. Anderson sponsored choreographers include a. Christian Spuck and Marco Goecke .

In addition to the world premiere of newly created works and the strengthening of the repertoire in the field of modern classical and contemporary choreography, Anderson maintains the work of John Cranko as a focus in the program of the Stuttgart Ballet. In addition, he studies the ballets of John Cranko on the major stages around the world, e. B. with the Australian Ballet in Melbourne, State Ballet in Berlin, Hamburg Ballet, La Scala Opera Ballet in Milan, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Boston Ballet, Ballet of the Rome Opera, Norwegian National Ballet, London Royal Ballet, Ballet of the Vienna State Opera and the Chinese National Ballet, Beijing.

Awards

In February 2006 Reid Anderson received the German Dance Prize for his services to artistic dance in Germany. In the same month the readers of the trade journal Dance Europe named him Director of the Year . In April 2009, Prime Minister Günther Oettinger awarded Reid Anderson the Medal of Merit of the State of Baden-Württemberg .

Web links

• Works by and about Reid Anderson in the catalog of the German National Library
• Stuttgart Ballet