HOUSTON — Former ballerina Lauren Anderson is training the next generation of dancers.
"I love teaching. Teaching is my jam. I love teaching as much as I love performing because when a light bulb goes on in a child and you see it happen, it's like yeah, and it's not my victory, it's their victory," said Anderson.
Anderson has had her share of victories, including a trailblazing career with Houston Ballet.
She was one of the first African American principal ballerinas for a major U.S. company. She retired in 2006, but teaching keeps her close to her first love.
Dance, she says, has been her refuge, through good times and bad.
"I've crossed over, been up, been down, been forward back with dance. Dance is one thing that no matter what happens in life, because life happens, everything is not always a bowl of cherries. But dance has always been there for me," Anderson said.
Charity Carter calls Anderson her role mode.
Carter founded the nonprofit, Edison Foundation, which provides cultural education for children.
Now the two women are working together to spread the power of dance.
"That power that dance gives them, is that power that takes them to do whatever they want to and whatever they can do. The sky is the limit," said Carter.
These two women, the master and the visionary, have a special partnership and commitment.
"I'm constantly looking at these dancers that I teach, who can I get a scholarship with Houston Ballet, and everyone says you are looking for the new you, no, I'm looking for the better me. Better than me. That child," Anderson said.