Lauren Anderson, a Lamar High School alumni, has built an extraordinary legacy in both the world of dance and in education. After dedicating over 42 years of her career at the Houston Ballet, she is respected as both a celebrated dancer as well as an administrator. She is also widely recognized as one of the first African American principal dancers of a major ballet company.
Anderson recalls her journey in ballet stemming from her father’s role at the High School for the Performing Visual Arts in 1972. Despite initially being told she would most likely not become a ballerina, her determination eventually guided her to becoming even more passionate for the artistic expression. At the age of 12, Anderson’s fa-ther asked the director of HSPVA if there was a possibility of ballet being an option as a career for her, and the answer was quite daunting. Regardless of her good personality and singing voice, Anderson did not quite have the figure needed to become a ballerina, so musical theater was the only other viable option. “I was devastated. I know I left the room,” she recalled. But it was one set of words said to her by her father that changed the trajectory of her ambition: ‘Andersons don’t quit’. “I think I realized how much I wanted to do it after being told I probably wouldn’t do it,” said Anderson.
After being a student at Lamar for all four years, Anderson recalls being an energetic teen, often buzzing around between both ballet and other extracurriculars, but it was the environment of excellence and standards that led her down a path of where she would be today. “They hold you to a higher standard than you hold yourself to because they know that you can get there,” Anderson said. Anderson also dedicates her success as a performer and an educator to her experience and time at Lamar even though she couldn’t see it at the moment. “What Lamar truly helped me with is being a leader in my institution, and one day preparing me to become an educator,” she said. Anderson now serves as a dance instructor in institutions all over the world, but being an educator wasn’t always in her cards. After finishing her career as a dancer, she was unsure on where life was planning on taking her next. “I didn’t know that’s what I was going to do, I had no idea that the 25 years of dance would lead me to dance education,” she recalled. Anderson really exemplifies how the lessons learned during her formative years can resonate throughout a lifetime. Although she couldn’t have predicted the path her career would take, it was the foundational values instilled in her that became her compass.
By embracing the lessons of her past and embracing them to her present, Anderson has built a legacy that reflects Lamar – a commitment to excellence, a passion for discovery, and a willingness to adapt. Her accomplishments are not just in her accolades but in the seeds of success that are often planted early and bloom in ways we never anticipate. In 2016, her journey through the world of dance was immortalized when the pointe shoes from her final performance were enshrined in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture to serve as a symbol of her dedication, artistry, and the resilience she demonstrated in her craft.
While once a familiar face in Lamar’s hallways, Lauren Anderson has danced her way to the top of the Houston Ballet – proving that dreams really can take center stage.
