[Adta] More thoughts about Ruthanna Boris

[Cynthia BERROL]

To Judy Bunny, my thanks for alerting us to the
passing of Ruthanna Boris. And to Stephanie Katz, I
was moved by your incisive recollections of Ruthanna;
they truly capture the woman I remember,  one whose
passion propelled her activist spirit into the various
projects she tirelessly pursued. 

Although she’s mostly characterized in the obituaries
that I read as a noted ballerina, choreographer and
teacher, my memories of her are during her years of
devotion and dedication to dance/movement therapy in
California. It was a time when participation in the
former ADTA Northern California Chapter had been
waning and few were attending meetings that Ruthanna
took the reins as President. Rising to the challenge,
she presided with an energy and determination that
helped recharge our dimmed batteries. And, it was at
Board meetings in her apartment in El Cerrito that I
came to know her and to discover two especially
endearing attributes: she was a wonderful raconteur,
relaying  relaying many vivid and captivating stories
about Mr. B (George Balanchine) ; and, she was a
fabulous cook (a talent she had admired in Mr. B). At
one of our meetings I was so impressed with an
extravagant pasta shrimp salad she had prepared for a
small group of us. I decided I had to have the recipe,
which she generously shared. Subsequently, on the
occasions I considered making it, simply reviewing the
numerous components, in addition to the time and
effort obviously required for preparation, quickly
dampened my enthusiasm. The recipe still sits, under
the letter “P” in my Pasta file—my  rating of
“excellent” pencilled in the upper right
corner—untouched, unused.

I recall Ruthanna speaking a number of times about her
intention to write a book about Mr. B, whom she
admired and regarded with great reverence. I also know
that Ruthanna did a lot of writing re the  different
causes that incited her passion. Does anyone have
information about her personal papers? It would be
important to determine if she had preserved any
material or notes about Balanchine, so they could
somehow be accessed and archived. 

Finally, the San Francisco Chronicle had a very nice
obituary about Ruthanna (Tuesday, January 8) that
included some comments of former members of the
Oakland ballet with whom she had worked. Web site
access is:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/09/BAG3ANF6S41.DTL