Laura anderson
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The Iconic Lauren Anderson’s Life Story Onstage
Three years ago, Lauren Anderson was contemplating writing her autobiography when acclaimed slam poet Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton contacted her about working on a dance-theater piece about her life. The result, Plumshuga: The Rise of Lauren Anderson, written by Mouton and with choreography by Houston Ballet artistic director Stanton Welch and Harrison Guy, premieres this month at Stages in Houston. The production features DeQuina Moore as the narrator (“Poet Lauren”), performances by Houston Ballet dancers and original music by Jasmine Barnes. Plumshuga chronicles Anderson’s dramatic rise as the company’s first Black principal, her struggles with addiction and her road to recovery. Anderson speaks to the experience of telling her story, and eventually sitting in a theater seat to watch it.
People would hear my narrative and say, “You should write a book.” I have read every book by every ballerina and I have lived the life. I thought I should wait a bit to tell my story because I knew that I would have to tell the truth.
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Lauren Anderson
Lauren Anderson is a true Texan – Boundary-breaking, compassionate, and trail-blazing. A native Houstonian, Anderson enrolled in Houston Ballet Academy at age 7, In 1983 she accepted an offer to join the professional company as a member of the corps de ballet and was promoted to the top rank of principal dancer in 1990, becoming the first African-American to be promoted to principal dancer at Houston Ballet – and one of the few African-American ballerinas at the head of a major ballet company anywhere in the world.
From 1983 until 2006, Houston Ballet Principal Dancer Lauren Anderson forged a trailblazing international career performing leading roles in all the great classical ballets, appearing across the world to tremendous critical praise, and in the process, becoming one of the ballet world’s most beloved stars. Throughout the 1990’s when Black artists were given few opportunities to perform leading roles in major American ballet companies, she performed legendary interpretations of Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty; Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, the Sugar Plu
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Lauren Anderson (dancer)
Ballet dancer (born 1965)
This article is about the ballet dancer. For the model, see Lauren Anderson (model).
Lauren Anderson (born February 19, 1965) is an American ballet dancer and a former principal dancer with the Houston Ballet. In 1990, she was one of the first African-American ballerinas to become a principal for a major dance company, an important milestone in American ballet.[1][2] She appeared in many ballets such as Don Quixote, Cleopatra, and The Nutcracker.[3] She retired from the Houston Ballet in 2006 and retired from dance altogether in 2009.[3] In 2016, Anderson had her pointe shoes from her final performance placed in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.[4]
Early life and education
Lauren was the only child of Lawrence Anderson, a school administrator, and Doris Parker-Morales, a classical piano teacher. She was born in Houston, Texas, on February 19, 1965.[5] Anderson started dance lessons and lessons to learn the viol
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