Anna Mansbridge

Anna photo

Anna Mansbridge, Artistic Director of Seattle Early Dance, is from the U.K., where she studied early dance for many years with teachers foremost in the profession. She holds a First Class Honors Degree in Dance and Education from Bedford College, U.K., and an M.F.A in Choreography and Performance from Mills College, C.A. She has been teaching and performing early European Court dance (16th-18th centuries) since 1990. In 1995 she co-founded Footwork OffLimits, a company committed to presenting early dance to audiences in ways both entertaining and informative. Ms Mansbridge has been on the faculty of two early music courses in Europe; the Ringve International Summer School in Trondheim, Norway, and Aestas Musica in Varazdin, Croatia. She immigrated to Seattle in 1998, and in 2000 she founded Seattle Early Dance, which has quickly established itself as the Northwest's premier early dance company, and has been the recipient of a number of grants. Recent choreography and performance credits include Monteverdi's Il Ballo delle Ingrate, John Blow's Venus and Adonis, Baroque Extravaganza with Gallery Concerts, and Spanish Baroque Meets Flamenco in collaboration with Flamenco dance specialist Rubina Carmona. Ms. Mansbridge is also in demand as a solo performer, and has recently appeared with both Seattle Symphony and Bellevue Philharmonic. In addition, Ms. Mansbridge has taught on a number of early music workshops, including The Dancing Master, and the Accademia d'Amore baroque opera workshop, both presented by The Early Music Guild, Seattle, and the Cascade Early Music Festival.