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Ruthanna Boris

(1918-2007)

BORIS, RUTHANNA (1918–2007), U.S. dancer and choreographer. Boris studied ballet at the Metropolitan opera ballet school where she made her debut in Carmen, in 1935, and was prima ballerina from 1937 to 1942. She performed a wide range of classical and contemporary ballet roles as soloist and principal dancer for the Ballets Russes (1943–1950) and also choreographed for them Cirque des deux (1947) and Quelques fleurs (1948). Her choreography, showing a gift for comedy, included Cakewalk (1951), created for the New York City Ballet, and she danced for the Broadway musical Two on the Aisle. She was director of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, 1956–1957, and from 1965 she was professor of dance at the University of Washington.  She died on January 8 2007 at her home in El Cerrito California at the age of 88. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY:

International Encyclopedia of Dance, vol. 1 (1998), 498.

[Amnon Shiloah (2nd ed.)]


Source: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2008 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.