DANCER HIGHLIGHT: ROBERT FOWLER

Corps Artist Robert Fowler in The Nutcracker | By Beau Pearson 

When Corps Artist Robert Fowler was five years old, one of his friends invited him to a week-long community dance program. “My mom always tells me that I would come out of class and say, ‘This is what I want to do.’” And that he did, dancing with a local studio until he turned 15-years-old and was accepted into a Summer Intensive program at Boston Ballet.

Growing up in the small town of Kennewick, Washington, meant Fowler didn’t have access to as many resources. When he arrived in Boston for the first time, he said “It was a big motivator for me and I realized that it was possible to continue training in a bigger way and really achieve this dream.”

Fowler was offered a spot at the Boston Ballet School, so he and his parents moved to Boston where he could then train full time in their pre-professional and trainee programs. He then joined Ballet West II in 2018 and promoted into the main Company in 2021.

At Ballet West, Fowler has thrived. “I’ve found a medium where I am able to be myself,” he said. “I’ve always had a really strong community in dance, where it feels like home and I am safe and comfortable with all of the people in ‘my house.’”

This season, Fowler performed several roles in The Nutcracker, for the first time, including Drosselmeyer and the Snow King, his first big pas de deux. “It was a big moment for me because I got to do a lot more than I have in the past,” he said. “I really enjoyed doing Drosselmeyer, but it was kind of horrifying at the same time. It’s very prop heavy while you conduct the first act, so you have to know what comes next and what is happening at every moment.”

At the end of the day, it’s all about the dancing though. “I love to move, I love to act, and especially the last few years, I have fallen more in love with the theatricality side and portraying characters while expressing myself through movement,” said Fowler. You can follow Robert on Instagram @robfowler__.