Lauren Ostrander

Joined The Sarasota Ballet  in 2018 as Corps de Ballet, promoted to Coryphée in 2020, promoted to Soloist in 2022.

Born: Tacoma, Washington

Training: Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, San Francisco Ballet School, Dutch National Ballet Trainee Program

Previous company: National Ballet of Canada

Favorite quote: “A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.” ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

Favorite role: It’s hard to choose just one role, but the stand out role of my career so far has to be Myrtha in Sir Peter Wright’s Giselle. Myrtha is a fierce, strong, powerful, and challenging role to tackle, and I loved getting to devote time and energy to work on such an important and demanding character with equally demanding technical aspects. I love how much Myrtha made me grow as an artist and a dancer, and I am so thankful I got to experience this iconic role. I remember feeling one with the role and music and being completely immersed in the moment …a truly unforgettable experience!

Favorite costume: I absolutely adore the costume for the principal woman in the 4th Movement of George Balanchine’s Western Symphony. The principal woman wears this flouncy and ruffly black tutu with a deep mesh v neck bodice that has beaded spaghetti straps, and crystal buttons along the back. She has black tights and black pointe shoes as well as black lace gloves, and a completely crystal studded choker with a tiny teardrop in the center. She wears this big fabulous black saloon style hat with thin wispy feather-like strands that flare up giving her extra height and pizazz. The hat has the center cut out of it, and it’s placed on top of a crystal fountain-type headpiece. There is a moment where the wardrobe team is waiting in the wings to quickly remove the hat. Within less than a minute, the hat is off and the principal woman is back on stage with her fountain headpiece doing fouettes. The music, the sets, the choreography, the energy, and the costumes designed by Barbara Karinska in the 1950’s make this ballet a treat, and I always feel like a glamorous saloon gal from America’s Wild West when we perform it!

Fun fact: Thanks to the wonderful world of ballet, I have lived in Seattle, Vancouver, Central Pennsylvania, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Toronto, Amsterdam, and Sarasota. This is my 6th season with The Sarasota Ballet, and it is the place I have lived in for the longest amount of time since I was 13!

Featured roles include: Ashton’s Birthday Offering, Dante Sonata, Façade, Les Patineurs; Balanchine’s Divertimento No.15, The Four Temperaments, Serenade, Western Symphony, Who Cares?; Bintley’s A Comedy of Errors; de Valois’ The Rake’s Progress; Graham’s Appalachian Spring; Graziano’s Amorosa, En Las Calles de Murcia, The Pilgrimage, Shostakovich Suite; Kobborg’s La Sylphide; Lang’s Shades of Spring; MacMillan’s Elite Syncopations; Robbins’ Fancy Free; Taylor’s Company B; Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs; Wright’s Giselle.