Brunilda Ruiz

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Brunilda Ruiz
Born(1936-06-01)June 1, 1936
Rincón, Puerto Rico
DiedAugust 13, 2019(2019-08-13) (aged 83)
Waldwick, New Jersey
OccupationBallet dancer
Teacher
Choreographer
Known forFounding member of the Joffrey Ballet and Harkness Ballet

Brunilda Ruiz ((1936-06-01)June 1, 1936 – (2019-08-13)August 13, 2019) was a Puerto Rican ballet dancer, teacher, and choreographer. She toured internationally as a founding member of the Joffrey Ballet and Harkness Ballet companies.

Biography[]

Ruiz was born in Rincón, Puerto Rico, and raised in Spanish Harlem in New York City.[1][2] She had four sisters and two brothers.[3] Ruiz started dancing at age 12.[3] She attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts, where Robert Joffrey taught her ballet.[2]

In 1956, Joffrey chose Ruiz to be one of the six original Joffrey Ballet members.[2] Ruiz was the youngest of the group, which also included Gerald Arpino, Glen Tetley, Beatrice Tompkins, Dianne Consoer, and John Wilson (to whom Ruiz was married from 1956 to 1967).[1][2][4] With the Joffrey Ballet, Ruiz toured the country, performing one-night-only shows and introducing ballet as an art form to audiences across the United States.[1][2] When Rebekah Harkness, patron of the Joffrey Ballet, disputed with Joffrey in the 1960s, the company split; Ruiz joined the newly formed Harkness Ballet.[1][4] She returned briefly to the Joffrey Balleytin 1968.[1] As a performer, Ruiz toured internationally, dancing in Europe, the Soviet Union, Middle East, and India.[2]

After retiring from performance in 1971, Ruiz taught and choreographed as associate director of the Baron Ballet in Waldwick, New Jersey, from 1976 to 1983.[2] She served as ballet mistress with the Milwaukee Ballet from 1983 to 1986, and taught at LaGuardia, her alma mater, from 1986 until her retirement in 2001.[2] She also taught at the Joffrey Ballet School-American Ballet Center in New York.[4]

Ruiz married Joffrey principal dancer Paul Sutherland in 1968.[2] She had two daughters, Mhari Wilson and Alicia Sutherland.[1] In 1995, Ruiz earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York Empire State College.[2]

Ruiz died in her home in Waldwick, New Jersey, on August 13, 2019, at the age of 83.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Kisselgoff, Anna (2019-08-30). "Brunilda Ruiz, Original Joffrey and Harkness Dancer, Dies at 83". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-12-25.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j "Brunilda Ruiz". The Record/Herald News. 2019-11-18. Retrieved 2019-12-24.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Prince, Rayna (1971-02-18). "Who's Who Spotlights Waldwick Ballerina". Ridgewood Herald-News. p. 13. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Anawalt, Sasha (1997). The Joffrey Ballet: Robert Joffrey and the making of an American dance company (University of Chicago Press ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-01755-9. OCLC 37030917.
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