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Director’s Cut: Garrett Anderson

Welcome to Director’s Cut, a fresh series of snappy, engaging interviews with ballet artistic directors all across the country. These micro-interviews blend ballet insights with get-to-know-you questions for a quick yet meaningful peek behind the ballet curtain. Whether you want to learn about a dream song to choreograph to, or the best place to grab a bite post-ballet performance, you have come to the right place.

We’re delighted to begin with Ballet Idaho’s Artistic Director Garrett Anderson. Anderson has danced with companies such as San Francisco Ballet and Royal Ballet of Flanders, was the Chair of the Dance Department at New Mexico School for the Arts in Santa Fe, and became the artistic director of Ballet Idaho in 2018.

Favorite Ballet Step?

Pas de basque.

@iaiasquassi Pas de basque #asti #danza #danzasti #ilariasquassino #studiaredanza #passiondance #dancelife #formazionedanza #amoreperladanza #reels__tiktok #videocorsodanza #viralvideos ♬ suono originale - Iaia

Best local restaurant to visit after a performance?

KIN.

Dream song to choreograph to?

That’s hard, choreographing to music you love is difficult. Especially if you have danced to it. I guess I would have to say Bach Chaccone, but I will likely never do it, because nothing will compare to Artifact by William Forsythe. Thanks a lot, Bill. 🙂

Essential pre-show ritual?

Change of costume. Gotta look the part!

Book you last read?

Good Inside: A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be, by Dr. Becky Kennedy.

Hobbies outside of ballet?

Skiing, cello, interior design.

App you can’t live without?

Spotify.

What did you want to be when you grew up when you were a kid?

Well, a ballet dancer of course. But always thought after dance I would become an architect or a psychologist

Ballet dancer from the past that you wish you could go back in time to see?

Anything with Baryshnikov.

Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. “New York City Ballet production of “Opus 19/The Dreamer” with Mikhail Baryshnikov, choreography by Jerome Robbins (New York)” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1979.

Career milestone before becoming Ballet Idaho's Artistic Director?

I was fortunate to perform with world class companies in some amazing places. Sold out shows at the Acropolis in Athens, or Millennium Park in Chicago or the re opening of Covent Garden were pretty incredible experiences. That said, transitioning to teaching, creating, and leading is something that was more humbling and maybe even more satisfying, though this feeling is more spread out over many tiny moments and interactions.

Alanna Love is a writer based out of Boise, Idaho. She revels in tracing the thread of beauty woven throughout daily life, especially when it is found in ballet, literature, or historical wardrobing.