 Li Anlin, Assistant Artistic Dirctor |
Mr. Li was born in Nanjing, China. At the age of 13, he went to Beijing to study at the Beijing Dance Academy and graduated in 1979 to the Young Dancers Company. He first met and worked with Ben Stevenson while he was a student at the Academy. In 1982, he joined the Central Ballet of China as a soloist and danced all around China, Thailand and Hong Kong. In 1985, Mr. Li was invited by Ivan Nagy to join Ballet de Santiago as a soloist and was soon promoted to principal dancer. In 1989, Mr. Stevenson invited Mr. Li to join Houston Ballet as a soloist where he danced until his retirement in 2000. During his 21-year career as a dancer, Mr. Li was featured in many of Mr.
Stevenson's ballets including The Sleeping Beauty, Coppélia, Cinderella,
The Nutcracker, Dracula, Three Preludes, Four Last Songs, "L," Swan
Lake, Peer Gynt, Cleopatra, and Don Quixote among others. He also danced in ballets
by Sir Kenneth MacMillan (Elite Syncopations, Manon, and Gloria); John Cranko
(Romeo & Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew); George Balanchine (Serenade, Agon,
Theme & Variations, The Four Temperaments); Jiri Kylian (Sinfonietta); and
Christopher Bruce (Cruel Garden) among many others. In 2000, Mr. Li was named
ballet master for Houston Ballet, and helped set and rehearse many of Mr. Stevenson's
ballets. He also assisted Mr. Stevenson in the creation of his most recent ballet, The Fountain of Tears, during the summer of 2002 in Beijing. This is his fifth season with Texas Ballet Theater.
Photo Credit |