Iris Andersen Grizzell ‘96 is a graduate of the Baltimore School for the Arts and holds a BFA in Dance from the California Institute of the Arts. Her training began at the Peabody Preparatory Institute with Dale Senhert, followed by Caryl Maxwell Classical Ballet with Caryl Maxwell and Caroline Denzler, and then Kinetics Dance Theatre with Dottie Fried and Donna Pidel. While attending Baltimore School for the Arts she studied under Norma Pera, Debra Robinson Deckelbaum, Sandra Lacey, Sandra Fortune, Stephanie Powell, Edward Stewart, and Anton Wilson. She has trained with the Eglevsky Ballet, the Washington Ballet, and the Ailey School.
During her four years at California Institute of the Arts, she was nominated for the Princess Grace Award and studied abroad in England at the London Contemporary Dance School. She performed works by Laurence Blake, Douglas Nielsen, Tina Yuan Lems, Martha Graham, Liz Maxwell, and Francesca Penzani among others and participated in internationally broadcast CalArts/MIT fashion show collaboration featuring technology and the arts in live performance at the Beverly Hills Hilton.
In her professional career in Los Angeles, California, Iris danced with the Pasadena Dance Theatre from 2003 to 2011, performing new works by choreographers including Laurence Blake, Cynthia Young, Leslie Carothers, Scott Putnam, Bill Evans, Andre Tyson, Jeffrey Gerodias, Jodi Gates, and Glenn Edgerton. From 2004 – 2011 she danced with the Francisco Martinez Dancetheatre in both concert and outreach performances throughout Southern California.
Upon returning to Baltimore, Iris received first place for her work in Howard County Ballet’s Young Choreographer’s Showcase in April 2011. Locally, she has performed with Bowen McCauley Dance,the Campbell Dance Experience and the Harford Ballet. Iris has also taught at Towson University as an adjunct Ballet professor for undergraduate dance majors and for Towson University Community Dance for youth and adults. She was the Program Manager of the TWIGS program at Baltimore School for the Arts for nearly 12 years, for which she has also taught Ballet, Pointe and Modern in the TWIGS Dance Program. She has served as a Faculty member of BSA’s Dance Department for over 10 years, teaching Modern and Ballet before accepting the BSA Dance Department Head position in the fall of 2022.
