Picture a ballerina or danseur. What comes to mind?
“Everyone has an idea of what ballet is, and it’s usually a pretty specific idea: someone in a tutu or an early memory of ‘The Nutcracker,’” Garrett Anderson said. “But I like to remind people it’s more than just that. If they don’t like it or think it’s not for them, I hope to challenge their perception of what it is.”
Anderson has spent his career challenging perceptions, from dancing on stages across North America and Europe to his current role as Ballet Idaho’s artistic director. He’s also helping guide a new generation with the Ballet Idaho Academy and Ballet Idaho Trainee Program.
“In the Academy, we have students from age 2 to 18,” he said. “We’re primarily a ballet school, of course, but we've integrated things like hip-hop and flamenco. In the summer, we have different camps for kids – just trying to introduce the artform and get people interested in dance.”
For those pursuing dance seriously, the Trainee Program offers select students the guidance to succeed as professionals.
"We've found many conservatory programs don't really prepare young dancers for the life of a professional artist,” Anderson said. “We've really focused on a more holistic approach to training in order to really get them ready to be artists.”
Academy and Trainee students often join Ballet Idaho in productions.
“All three work in tandem and… we're really proud of all three of those programs,” Anderson said. “Boise has always struck me as a community that really pays attention and supports meaningful programs like what we have at Ballet Idaho. And, of course, we wouldn't exist as a professional company without the community around us.”
Ballet Idaho gives back as well, with programs like ‘Learning Through Dance’ in local public schools.
“We align with the curriculum and the grade level and topically by age group,” Anderson said. “This program culminates in scholarships awarded to attend Ballet Idaho Academy tuition-free. We also invite public schools annually to see our performance at the Morrison Center. We’ll continue to explore how we can engage more; bringing people in through our Academy classes, doing more events out in the community, just really sharing more of our work.”
Anderson encourages everyone to give Ballet Idaho productions a try.
“In addition to the classics, and the annual favorite of ‘The Nutcracker,’ new audiences tend to love our ‘Anthology’ program for the diverse styles and intimate setting it provides. We’re also doing a world premiere of ‘Sherlock’ next fall at the Morrison Center, which will be very fun.
“It’s a lot more relatable than people assume. It’s the human body responding to music. Any child that hears music probably wants to move around. We unlearn that instinctual response. Ballet is an expression of a basic, primal, human instinct to respond to music. That’s a beautiful thing that I just want more people to be exposed to.”