Marika Anderson was born in Portland, Oregon, and began her dance training at the age of four at the School of Oregon Ballet Theatre, where she studied with Haydée Gutiérrez, James Canfield, and Elena Carter. She was an apprentice with Oregon Ballet Theatre for its 2001-2002 season. After attending the School of American Ballet’s 2000 and 2002 Summer Courses, Ms. Anderson enrolled as a year-round student in September 2002. She was invited to become an apprentice with New York City Ballet in November 2004, and in June 2005 she joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet.
Ms. Anderson has performed featured roles in numerous ballets including Balanchine’s La Valse, Prodigal Son and George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®; Peter Martins’s adaptation of Bournonville’s La Syphide as well as Mr. Martins’s The Magic Flute, Romeo + Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake; Jerome Robbins’s The Concert and The Four Seasons; and Alexei Ratmansky’s Russian Seasons. Ms. Anderson also originated a featured role in Justin Peck’s The Most Incredible Thing.
Ms. Anderson was invited to become a teaching fellow at the School of American Ballet in early 2016. She joined SAB’s permanent faculty in September 2016 and continues to perform as a member of New York City Ballet. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Fordham University in June 2018.
This series of photos was taken in March of 2020. A few days later the world shut down due to COVID19. Photos by Kenny Rodriguez