Early days Born in
Copenhagen, Andersen was first exposed to dance through ballroom dancing. At age 7, he was accepted into the
Royal Danish Ballet School, which is attached to the
Royal Danish Ballet. There he studied with
Kirsten Ralov,
Hans Brenaa,
Flemming Ryberg, and
Vera Volkova. He also studied in Germany, France, and the United States, where he took classes at the
School of American Ballet. In 1972, at the age of 18, he graduated from the Copenhagen school and was accepted by the
Royal Danish Ballet as an apprentice.
Royal Danish Ballet After a year as apprentice at the Royal Danish Ballet, Andersen was in 1973 accepted into its
corps de ballet and was promoted to
principal dancer in 1975, at the age of 20, which made him the youngest principal in the company's history. At the Royal Danish Ballet, Andersen appeared in leading roles in ballets of the 19th century Danish
ballet master August Bournonville, such as
Napoli,
Flower Festival in Genzano,
Far from Denmark,
The Kermesse in Bruges and
A Folk Tale, as well as in classic ballets such as
The Nutcracker,
Coppélia and
Giselle. He also performed in many modern ballets, creating the role of the Boy in the 1976 revival of
Rudi van Dantzig's
Monument for a Dead Boy and dancing the part of The Chosen in Glen Tetley's radical interpretation of
Igor Stravinsky's
Le Sacre du Printemps in 1978.
New York City Ballet In 1980,
George Balanchine invited him to join the
New York City Ballet and he had to learn 35 ballets within the first three months of his tenure. Roles that were created for him by Balanchine included
Ballade (1980), ''
Robert Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze (1980), and Mozartiana'' (1981).
Peter Martins and
Jerome Robbins also created roles for him in several works. After suffering a hip injury in 1988, Andersen returned to the stage but eventually decided to retire from New York City Ballet in 1990, giving his final NYCB performance on 29 June 1990 in Balanchine's 1928
Apollo. Altogether, Andersen appeared in some sixty ballets during his ten years with the company.
Balanchine répétiteur After his departure from NYCB, Andersen staged works by Balanchine for ballet companies around the world, having been appointed an accredited Balanchine
répétiteur by the
George Balanchine Trust. He also staged ballets by
August Bournonville,
Jerome Robbins and others. In 1999 he staged Giselle for Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, and in 2013 he created a new production of The Kermesse in Bruges for the Royal Danish Ballet.
Ballet Arizona In 2000, after a brief period as ballet master for
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Andersen was appointed artistic director of
Ballet Arizona, where he for more than 24 years oversaw a repertory of classical and contemporary ballets and also staged many works by Balanchine. He also created a number of original works for the company. In 2024 he stepped down from the role as artistic director and was appointed Artistic Director Emeritus for the company.
Choreographer In 1987, while Andersen was still with NYCB, the Royal Danish Ballet gave him his first choreographic commission, for which he created
1-2-3—1-2. This was followed by other works for a.o. the New York City Ballet, the
Slovenian National Theatre Ballet, the
Royal Ballet of Flanders,
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and
Pacific Northwest Ballet. From 2000 Andersen created a large number of works for Ballet Arizona. ==Selected choreographic works==