[Adta] Fwd: Re: Ruthanna Boris
Cynthia BERROL
cberrol at sbcglobal.net
Sat Jan 27 15:04:59 EST 2007
Dear Judith, Susan, Stephanie, Elissa, and all other
interested ADTA list serve recipients,
Here's an obituary published in a Newspaper in Albany,
CA, (the city in which she had resided in the Bay
Area). I thought it was a very thoughtfully written
piece.
Cynthia
--- Craig Lazzeretti <clazzeretti at cctimes.com> wrote:
> Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 14:48:35 -0800
> From: "Craig Lazzeretti" <clazzeretti at cctimes.com>
> To: Cynthia BERROL <cberrol at sbcglobal.net>
> Subject: Re: Ruthanna Boris
>
> Thanks for your help, Cynthia. Below is a copy of
> the editorial I wrote on Ms. Boris
> for the Albany Journal weekly newspaper today. It's
> also available at the following
> link.
>
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/local/states/california/contra_costa_county/el_cerrito/16497102.htm.
>
> Your comments provided some good background for me.
> It will also be condensed into a
> news story to run in the Contra Costa Times this
> weekend.
> Craig Lazzeretti
>
> The death of longtime Albany resident Ruthanna Boris
> received national attention last
> week as she was remembered for her pioneering work
> as a dancer and choreographer. The
> New York Times and other papers published lengthy
> obituaries of the legendary
> ballerina, and Time magazine noted her passing on
> its milestones page.
> Boris died of cancer Jan. 5 at age 88 at an assisted
> living facility in El Cerrito,
> where she moved within the past year from her Albany
> Hill apartment, according to
> longtime friend and former Oakland Ballet master
> Howard Sayette.
> Although by most accounts she kept a rather low
> profile during her East Bay years,
> Boris must be considered one of the most famous,
> distinguished individuals ever to
> call Albany home. She was a woman of rare stature
> and grace who during her prime
> helped put American ballet on the map. Her striving
> for perfection and meticulous
> attention to detail were also evident during the
> years she spent in Albany, when a
> series of health problems failed to prevent her from
> pursuing new endeavors in the
> field she loved.
> Boris’ legacy was firmly established when she moved
> here from Seattle in the
> mid-1980s. She was widely recognized as the first
> American ballerina to star with the
> famed Ballet Russe troupes in the 1940s before her
> career was cut short because of hip
> problems. She also worked extensively with famed
> choreographer George Balanchine,
> considered one of the founders of American ballet.
> “She was one of the first big-name ballerinas. I
> think her career would have lasted a
> lot longer if she had not developed her hip
> problems,” Sayette told The Journal this
> week from his home in Denver. “She was always rather
> upset about the fact that when
> she was a ballerina in Ballet Russe, there were
> still some Russians in the company who
> kind of looked down on American dancers. She was
> certainly as good as any of them.”
> And if you don’t want to take Sayette’s word for it,
> just read what New York Times
> dance critic John Martin had to say about her
> dancing in the late 1940s. “No role for
> her is merely a vehicle for the display of her
> talents; her talents rather become the
> vehicle for publishing the role’s intent.
It would
> be difficult to name another
> dancer who has so clear a sense of these stylistic
> differences.”
> Although her dancing career had long since ended
> when she came to Albany, her passion
> still burned bright. Boris worked with Sayette on
> the staging of her ballet,
> “Cakewalk,” for the Oakland Ballet in the 1980s,
> where she displayed her choreography
> skills.
> “She had definite ideas on how to teach ballet, and
> insisted on it,” Sayette said.
> “She would not allow the dancers to hear the music
> until they learned the steps. She
> always said the dancers should earn the music.”
> They earned it with “Cakewalk.” The performance was
> such a hit that Sayette staged it
> for other companies around the country, and it was
> revived by the Oakland Ballet
> several times. Sayette said the success meant a lot
> to Boris, who had been
> disappointed by another company’s staging of her
> prized work.
> “I think it exceeded her expectations,” Sayette
> said. “When the curtain came down, she
> said, ‘I’ve been vindicated.’”
> Her legacy as a choreographer almost equals her
> dancing career. In addition to
> “Cakewalk,” she also choreographed “Kaleidoscope”
> and “Will o’ the Wisp” for
> Balanchine. “I think I’m the only woman who has
> choreographed for his company,” she
> said in the 1983 book “Balanchine’s Ballerinas” by
> Robert Tracy.
> “I’m happiest when I’m working with dancers who
> trust me. I can give myself to them.
> It’s nurturing. It’s family in the truest sense.”
> Boris’ interests had turned to the psychological
> benefits of dance therapy when she
> moved to Albany. Before moving here, she studied
> dance therapy and served as director
> of dance at the University of Washington.
> Joanna Harris, a longtime acquaintance who edited a
> dance therapy journal with Boris,
> said in an e-mail to The Journal that Boris moved to
> the Bay Area because of her
> contacts with the San Francisco Ballet and because
> of the medical attention available
> for her hip ailments. “She had the earliest (hip
> replacement) operation I know of, and
> had to have several repeat operations,” Harris
> wrote. “She often was in great pain.”
> Boris suffered other setbacks. She was active in the
> American Dance Therapy
> Association and started the Center for Dance
> Development and Research in Albany. But
> Sayette said the center was short-lived.
> “The concept was quite good, but she couldn’t get it
> off the ground,” he said. “She
> wanted to establish a school, and she wanted to tie
> in the fact that dance could be
> used as therapy for mental health.”
> Sayette, who would often drive Boris to her medical
> appointments after she became ill,
> was amazed how his friend remained energetic despite
> mounting health problems.
> “Because of her hips, she had a hard time getting
> around,” he said. “Even when she was
> on crutches, she would take the bus everywhere.”
> That was undoubtedly the sort of determination that
> made her one of America’s great
> ballerinas and choreographers. To be sure, her
> example will continue to inspire those
> who study her work and dream of following her path.
> Albany was indeed fortunate to have counted such a
> special person as one of its own
> for so long.
>
>
>
> Cynthia BERROL wrote:
>
> > Craig,
> >
> > I'm attaching most of the emails I received re
> > Ruthanna Boris that have information about her
> life in
> > the order written. You probably already know most
> of
> > it. These are all from dance/movement therapists.
> >
> > Please copy me your article.
> >
> > With rest wishes,
> > Cynthia Berrol
> >
> > --- Craig Lazzeretti <clazzeretti at cctimes.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > > Hi Cynthia,
> > > My name is Craig Lazzeretti, and I'm the editor
> of
> > > The Journal newspaper
> > > in El Cerrito, Calif. I was referred to you by
> the
> > > American Dance
> > > Therapy Association because I was trying to find
> out
> > > more information
> > > about Ruthanna Boris, who died in El Cerrito
> > > recently. I was hoping you
> > > might be able to help me out in learning more
> about
> > > her activities
> > > during the period she lived in El Cerrito and
> served
> > > with the ADTA. I
> > > can be reached at 510-262-2724.
> > >
> > > Thanks for any assistance you can provide.
> > >
> > > Craig Lazzeretti
> > > > begin:vcard
> > > n:Lazzeretti;Craig
> > > tel;work:510-262-2724
> > > x-mozilla-html:FALSE
> > > adr:;;;;;;
> > > version:2.1
> > > email;internet:clazzere at cctimes.com
> > > title:Hills Newspapers Editor
> > > end:vcard
> > >
> >
> >
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Name: Ruthanna
> Boris.doc
> > Type: Microsoft
> Word Document (application/msword)
> > Ruthanna Boris.doc Encoding: base64
> > Description:
> 3309564203-Ruthanna Boris.doc
> > Download Status: Not
> downloaded with message
> > begin:vcard
> n:Lazzeretti;Craig
> tel;work:510-262-2724
> x-mozilla-html:FALSE
> adr:;;;;;;
> version:2.1
> email;internet:clazzere at cctimes.com
> title:Hills Newspapers Editor
> end:vcard
>
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