Reid Bryce Anderson (born 1 April 1949) is a Canadian ballet dancer, ballet director and artistic director. He danced with the Stuttgart Ballet before returning as

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

of the

National Ballet of Canada The National Ballet of Canada is a Canadian ballet company that was founded in 1951 in Toronto, Ontario, with Celia Franca as the first artistic director. A company of 70 dancers with its own orchestra, the National Ballet has been led since 2022 ...

in 1987. He returned to the Stuttgart Ballet as artistic director in 1996.

Biography

Early life and training

Reid Anderson was born at

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capi ...

, British Columbia on 1 April 1949. He received his dance training at Dolores Kirkwood Academy and transferred to the

Banff Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

. He then went to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1967 to study at the

Royal Ballet School The Royal Ballet School is a British school of classical ballet training founded in 1926 by the Anglo-Irish ballerina and choreographer Ninette de Valois. The school's aim is to train and educate outstanding classical ballet dancers, especially ...

Dance career

Anderson began his dance career at the Royal Opera Ballet but was unhappy as a performer. In 1969, Anderson joined the Stuttgart Ballet as they were preparing for a two-week performance schedule in New York. His first piece with the company was '' Onegin''. Shortly afterwards he became a

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 male or female. The position is similar to that of '' soloist''; however, p ...

and was their ballet master from 1982 to 1986.

Return to Canada

In 1987, Anderson became co-artistic director of

Ballet British Columbia Ballet BC is a contemporary ballet company located in Vancouver, British Columbia. History Ballet BC is a professional contemporary ballet company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The company was founded as Ballet British Columbia b ...

, and later became the sole director. He was known for introducing a contemporary image to the company and increasing its reputation across Canada. Anderson staged a remount of '' Onegin'' with the

. He became the director, and eventually artistic director, of the National Ballet of Canada in 1989. Anderson sustained the company during a tough economic recession by choreographing traditional ballet pieces and bringing Canadian and international choreographers to create new contemporary pieces. He occasionally danced in various character roles during these productions. In 1994, he proposed that the board of directors promote

Chan-hon Goh Chan Hon Goh, C.M. D.Litt (simplified Chinese: 吴振红; traditional Chinese: 吳振紅; born in 1969 in Beijing, China), is a Chinese-born Canadian ballerina. Goh was most notably a principal dancer with The National Ballet of Canada before ...

as the company's first Chinese Canadian

. He left the National Ballet of Canada in 1995, citing continued funding cuts from the government. Anderson had trained Eric Gauthier, who joined him as a member of his ensemble when he became Director of the Stuttgart Ballet.

Return to Stuttgart

Anderson returned to Stuttgart Ballet in 1996 as artistic director. He organised the company's tour to New York in 1998.

Awards

In 1995, the Stuttgart Ballet awarded Anderson the John Cranko Award. He won the 2006 ' (German Dance Prize) in recognition of his work to improve dance in Germany, and in 2009 won the

Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg (german: link=no, Verdienstorden des Landes Baden-Württemberg) is the highest award of the German State of Baden-Württemberg. Established 26 November 1974, it was originally called the Medal of Merit of Bad ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Reid Canadian male ballet dancers Living people 1949 births National Ballet of Canada People from New Westminster People educated at the Royal Ballet School Stuttgart Ballet Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg