Reid Bryce Anderson

Reid Bryce Anderson, ballet director, dancer, choreographer (b at New Westminster, BC 1 Apr 1949). Following a distinguished dancing career in Europe, Anderson has established himself as a resourceful and imaginative ballet director. Anderson trained at the Dolores Kirkwood Academy in Burnaby, British Columbia, the BANFF CENTRE and later at the Royal Ballet School in London, England. He joined Germany's renowned Stuttgart Ballet in 1969 and soon attained the rank of principal dancer, creating many leading roles, appearing internationally as a guest artist and beginning to choreograph. Anderson also worked as ballet master for the Stuttgart Ballet 1982-86, and travelled internationally to stage works by the company's celebrated former artistic director and principal choreographer, John Cranko.

Anderson resettled in Canada in 1986 and in 1987 became first co-artistic director and then sole director of BALLET BRITISH COLUMBIA. During his 2-year tenure, Anderson helped give the company a more defined, contemporary image and established its national reputation. Anderson subsequently took on the role of director at the NATIONAL BALLET OF CANADA in July 1989 and is credited with having sustained the company through an economically stressful period, taking it on successful foreign tours, developing younger dancers and choreographers and skilfully balancing the repertoire with a mixture of traditional work, 20th-century classics and new ballets by leading Canadian and international choreographers. Anderson also remains a strong stage presence as a character dancer.

He left the NBC in June 1996 to become artistic director of the Stuttgart Ballet in Germany, a once great company that had languished in recent years. He has since been credited with reviving its fortunes and after a long absence brought it on tour to New York in 1998. Anderson also returns periodically to the National Ballet in Toronto to help produce revivals of Cranko ballets. In 2006 Reid Anderson was awarded the German Dance Prize for his contribution to dance in Germany and in 2009 he received the Medal of Merit of Baden-Württemberg.

Author MICHAEL CRABB Revised: KATHERINE CORNELL

Suggested Reading
James Neufeld, Power to Rise: the Story of the National Ballet of Canada (1996).

Links to Other Sites
National Ballet of Canada
The website for the National Ballet of Canada. Features a performance calendar and profiles of the principal members of the company. Check out the extensive multimedia educational resources about ballet.

Reid Anderson
A profile of Reid Anderson, a dancer, teacher, trainer, producer, and ballet director. From the website for the Stuttgart Ballet.