Ruthanna Boris

Ruthanna Boris (March 18, 1919 – January 5, 2007) was an American ballerina, choreographer, and teacher born in Brooklyn, New York. She became the first American ballerina to star with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and later built a significant legacy as both a creator of enduring works and a pioneering figure in academic dance education.

Boris was among the earliest students enrolled at the School of American Ballet when George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein founded it in 1934. That same year she performed in the ensemble for Balanchine's first American creation, Serenade, which premiered on June 10, 1934, under the auspices of the Metropolitan Opera ballet school. At the Metropolitan Opera she advanced from ensemble dancer to soloist and eventually to leading dancer. She also performed with Ballet Caravan, Kirstein's offshoot company established to foster emerging choreographers. Through that organization she received notable roles from several of its choreographers: Lew Christensen cast her in the title role of Pocahontas, and Eugene Loring also selected her for his work.

Her Broadway career spanned from 1935 to 1944. In 1935 she appeared in Alma Mater, a ballet-musical featuring choreography by Balanchine, music by Kay Swift, and fellow cast member Tamara Geva. In 1937 she danced alongside Paul Haakon in Hooray for What!, a musical with music by Harold Arlen, scenic design by Vincente Minnelli, and musical arrangements by Kay Thompson. Two years later she performed in The Straw Hat Revue (1939), a production that also featured Imogene Coca, Danny Kaye, and Jerome Robbins. In 1943 she choreographed the Broadway revival of Sigmund Romberg's The Student Prince.

Boris joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1943, initially receiving junior rank due to the company's preference for Russian dancers. Her standing rose considerably when Balanchine joined as principal choreographer; he placed her in Danses Concertantes, Night Shadow, and Raymonda, and she went on to become the first American dancer to perform the company's classical repertoire. Her roles ranged from Swan Lake to Frankie and Johnny, and she remained with the company until 1950.

As a choreographer, Boris created works that have remained in the repertoire. She made Cirque de Deux for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1947. After joining the New York City Ballet in 1951, she choreographed Cakewalk that same year, set to music by Louis Moreau Gottschalk and costumed using pieces from an earlier production. For the NYCB she also created Kaleidoscope (1952), set to Kabalevsky's The Comedians; Bayou (1952); and Will o' the Wisp (1953), a work depicting a naiad capturing a sleeping boy, which again incorporated scenery and costumes from a prior ballet. In 1956 she choreographed Le Jazz Hot, Pasticcio — for which she also designed the costumes — Roundelay, The Comedians, and The Wanderling. In 1976 she choreographed Ragtime for the Houston Ballet, using music by Scott Joplin.

A hip injury in 1956 required surgery, and Boris danced with and led the Royal Winnipeg Ballet during 1956 and 1957. By 1959 the injury had progressed to degenerative arthritis, necessitating further surgeries and the use of crutches, which ended her performing career. In 1965 she was invited to establish a dance program at the University of Washington, where her first classes were held on the second floor of the UW Armory building, above an ROTC shooting range. She kept time for her students with a drum, striking it harder when gunfire from below grew louder. Boris taught ballet at the University of Washington for eighteen years and contributed to the design of Meany Hall, which was built with three dance studios, changing rooms, and showers. She also helped elevate dance to the standing of other academic disciplines within the university and more broadly across the country.

Boris died on January 5, 2007, in El Cerrito, California. Her papers, dating from approximately 1929 to 2003, are held at Houghton Library, Harvard University.