Page, Ruth

Ruth Page, American dancer, choreographer, and director of ballet companies, was born in 1899, the daughter of a physician in Indiana. Her dance studies began with local teachers in Indianapolis. Like many a young girl, she was inspired by seeing Anna Pavlova perform, and actually did perform with the legendary dancer's troupe during a tour to South America in 1918. Her training continued in Chicago with Adolph Bolm who created The Birthday of the Infanta for her, dancing the role with Bolm's Ballet Intime at the London Coliseum in 1920. Her varied performing career included being premiere danseuse with Chicago Allied Arts from 1924-1927, Irving Berlin's Music Box Revue, a brief time with Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, touring the Orient and Moscow in the late 1920's, solo tours throughout the United States, touring with Harald Kreutzberg 1932-1933, and premiere danseuse with the Chicago Grand Opera Company from 1934-1937. Chicago was her base, having married the successful lawyer Thomas Hart Fisher, who also managed her dance career affairs. With her partner Bentley Stone, she formed Page-Stone Ballet Company in Chicago in 1938. Page was one of the first to tackle American themes in her dances including the ballad of Frankie and Johnny (choreographed with Stone), Poe's poem The Bells, and the story of a revivalist preacher Billy Sunday. She worked with the Chicago Lyric Opera and toured a Chicago Opera Ballet company, introducing many great dancers to the American public, including Rudolf Nureyev's New York City debut in March, 1962. With the resources of a successful husband, she commissioned scores from Aaron Copland, Darius Milahud and others, designs from Isamu Noguchi, Pavel Tchelitchev, and André Delfau, whom she married in 1983, many years after the death of Thomas Fisher. She wrote two books, Page by Page and Class. The recipient of the Dance Magazine Award (1990), the Illinois Gubernatorial Award (1985) and several honorary degrees, she died in Chicago April 7, 1991.

From the guide to the Ruth Page papers, 1956-1965, (The New York Public Library. Jerome Robbins Dance Division.)

Ruth Page was born on March 22, 1905 (or, according to some sources, as early as 1899). She began studying ballet in Indianapolis at the age of 12, later studying with dancers Andreas Pavley and Serge Oukrainsky. As a member of the Pavlova Company, she toured Central and South America in 1918-1919, then returned to Chicago to study with Adolph Bolm. Bolm cast her in the leading role of John Alden Carpenter's "Birthday of the Infanta" (1919), after which she became principal dancer of his newly founded Ballet Intime (1920) and the Allied Arts Ballet (1924). In 1925, she married attorney Thomas Fisher. Over the next thirty years, she went on to become the principal dancer or ballet mistress in such well-known ballet companies as the Chicago Opera Company, Teatro Colón, the Metropolitan Opera Company, the Ravinia Opera Company, Diaghilev's Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, Les Ballets Americains, and her own dance companies.

From the description of Ruth Page collection, 1944-1960. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 71056542

American dancer, choreographer, and ballet director.

Ruth Page (1899-1991) was considered a pioneer in creating works on American themes. To the classical ballet vocabulary, she added movements from sports, popular dance, and everyday gestures. Born in Indianapolis, Page studied with Adolph Bolm in New York, and after a tour with Anna Pavlova's ballet company she joined Bolm's Ballet Intime. In 1919, she came to Chicago to dance the leading role in Birthday of the Infanta, with a score by American composer John Alden Carpenter. After dancing on Broadway, she returned to Chicago as principal dancer with Bolm's Allied Arts Company. From 1926 to 1931, she was principal dancer and choreographer for the Ravinia Opera Company, and from 1934 until 1945, she danced and directed the ballet ensemble for the Chicago Opera Company. From 1954 to 1969, Page directed the ballet for the Chicago Lyric Opera. During the depression in the 1930s, Ruth Page and Bentley Stone directed the Chicago WPA Dance Project and had significant success with the highly original ballet Frankie and Johnny. During the 1940s, Page staged works in Chicago and for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, and in 1956 she founded the Chicago Opera Ballet. Starting in 1965, she staged an annual production of The Nutcracker, and later The Merry Widow. From her first association with the Ravinia Opera in 1926 and for the rest of her life, Ruth Page took on the roles of prima ballerina, choreographer, director, financial backer, and grand lady of Chicago dance. Among her many achievements, her vision and energy promoted the Allied Arts, Chicago Grand Opera Company, Ravinia Opera Festival, Federal Theater/WPA Dance Project, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Chicago Ballet, the Chicago Opera Ballet, Ruth Page's International Ballet, and the enduring Ruth Page Foundation and School of Dance. Ruth Page was married twice, first to Thomas H. Fisher, and after his death to Andre Delfau. She died at age 92 in 1991.

From the description of Ruth Page works and memorabilia, 1923-1983. (Newberry Library). WorldCat record id: 649002543

From the guide to the Ruth Page collection, 1918-70, (The New York Public Library. Jerome Robbins Dance Division.)