[Adta] More thoughts about Ruthanna Boris

[Cynthia BERROL]

Susan, 
Thanks for your recollections about Ruthanna. They
totally congruent with my recollections of her. Re
your comment  "Her ability to persevere, day in & day
out, I believe, was an amazing quality."  I think
"Perseverance" could have been her middle  name. She
was like a woman warrior,  battling for the causes in
which she strongly believed.
Cynthia



> Hi Cynthia, Stephanie & Judith,& everyone,
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you all for your special remembrances. They
> are so vivid & I
> appreciate having your memories to add to my own.
> 
>  
> 
>  I just read the San Francisco Chronicle clip &
> excerpted this one quote
> because it touches on an issue that relates, I
> believe to Ruthanna's
> relationship w/our profession.
> 
>  
> 
>  The author said: "She was relentless," said
> Erickson, who recalled that Ms.
> Boris insisted on the unorthodox use of a drum
> during rehearsals to drive
> home the exact rhythmic structure of the dance. "She
> wouldn't let down on
> her expectations, so it was a matter of everyone
> else rising to the occasion
> and coming up to her level." 
> 
>  
> 
> Regarding our profession, I don't think that
> Ruthanna's expectations were
> necessarily "right or wrong", just that she believed
> in them so strongly
> that it might have been difficult for her to see
> beyond them to include
> other perspectives.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> I believe that this trait probably spilled over into
> other aspects of her
> life & sometimes may have worked for her better then
> other times. I recall
> an ADTA conference at Asilimar in CA in the 70's
> where I found myself
> greeting Ruthanna as she arrived, on crutches, in
> the lobby. She had to make
> arrangements w/ the management to be able to get
> about at Asilimar, & this
> was not an easy feat using crutches. She also shared
> w/ me the very tedious
> procedures she had to endure daily in preparing for
> each day - hot baths, a
> regimen of exercise, etc. Her ability to persevere,
> day in & day out, I
> believe, was an amazing quality.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> I hope that others who knew Ruthanna or have special
> memories of her will
> continue to share them in this forum. We were indeed
> fortunate to have had
> her as part of our profession and this aspect of her
> life was not captured
> in the more public media pieces re her life.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Susan kleinman, MA, ADTR, NCC
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: adta-bounces at adta.org
> [mailto:adta-bounces at adta.org] On Behalf Of
> Cynthia BERROL
> Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2007 8:11 PM
> To: ADTA at adta.org
> Subject: [Adta] More thoughts about Ruthanna Boris
> 
>  
> 
> 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
> 
> 
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