A summer dare from Anthony’s sister propelled him into the arts. He was twenty-something, enrolled in his hometown university, and becoming a bit desperate in his search for a career path. Anthony had not yet considered the concept of a career calling, a vocation, but that was indeed what he was in search of. Prior to that time, he cannot recall a meaningful exposure to the arts. He was a first generation college student, and his father’s desired career choice for him was based solely upon financial stability. Anthony’s intuition, however, told him he was destined to follow another path, without any clue what that path might be. Thanks to his intuition, persistence and patience, Anthony discovered dance. Almost a decade after accepting his sister’s dare (thanks, Reece!), with a good deal of hard work, sacrifice, fortunate opportunities and thoughtful mentors who assisted him along the way, Anthony was a full-time professional dancer in company based almost 2,000 miles from where his journey began. While Anthony’s path was challenging and complicated on many levels, it was also very enjoyable, engaging and rewarding. After he had been dancing professionally for about two years, he was forced to pause when the epiphany that his career path was that of a dance artist finally hit him. Dance, as a career, was not a conscious choice for Anthony, but one that he was compelled to pursue.
Anthony Roberts is Artist in Residence in Dance at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, where he has been teaching since 1995. He was Visiting Artist in Dance at Gustavus Adolphus College from 1994-96 and Sage Cowles Land Grant Chair (with the love of his life, Janice Roberts) at the University of Minnesota in 1995.
His coursework includes modern dance technique, dance anatomy/kinesiology, conditioning (Pilates mat), screendance (dance with camera), the senior dance capstone course, and he is faculty advisor for the semester-long off-campus program at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington. Anthony created Modern Dance Learning Communities (MDLCs) at St. Olaf, which provide for student-led small group study outside of dance technique classes. He initiated and oversees the digital archival and online presence of the dance department’s video and photograph collection.
Anthony is co-artistic director of Companydance, St. Olaf’s modern dance company, for which he choreographs annually.
In 2015, Anthony completed the BASI Pilates™ Comprehensive Teacher Training Course with Dance Specialization under the mentorship of Karen Clippinger in at California State University in Long Beach.
In 2016, Anthony attended Your Brain on Art, an international invitation only conference to review, discuss and explore mobile brain-body imaging technology and its applicability to cross-disciplinary research, practice, and creativity. He also attended the Dance Science & Somatics Educators conference in Salt Lake City.
During summer 2017, Anthony teamed with two student researchers in a Collaborative Undergraduate Research and Inquiry (CURI) project, Scanning the Active Brain & Body: Revealing Connections Between the Art & Science of Movement, to record, process, and begin interpreting brain activity during the learning and execution/performance of movement tasks/sequences.
Each of these professional development experiences influence Anthony’s teaching and creative work.
Anthony performed nationally and internationally with Repertory Dance Theatre and Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, both located in Salt Lake City, Utah; Sharir Dance Company in Austin, Texas; and the Jacob’s Pillow’s Men Dancers: The Ted Shawn Legacy (a project touring internationally to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Ted Shawn’s birth). His professional performance repertoire includes works by historic and contemporary dance artists including: Isadora Duncan, Ted Shawn, Helen Tamiris, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, Jose Limón, Anna Sokolow, Merce Cunningham, Douglas Dunn, Bill Evans, David Parsons, Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane, Yacov Sharir, Garth Fagan, Douglas Nielsen, Shapiro and Smith, Ann Ludwig and others.
Anthony earned a BFA in Ballet Performance from the University of Utah and an MFA in Dance with a Dance Technology Emphasis from Arizona State University, Tempe.