March 22
Born Today:
Ruth Page
Ballerina and dance advocate Ruth Page (1899-1991) danced with the original Ballets Russes, the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo, with Anna Pavlova (1881-1931), and on Broadway before settling in Chicago as her home base in 1925. She founded several companies, including the Chicago Opera Ballet (1956-1970) and began producing an annual holiday Nutcracker ballet starting in 1965, which continued until 1997. Page can be credited with creating a supportive environment for dance in the city of Chicago and giving the city an international cachet by commissioning a young George Balanchine (1904-1983) to create a piece for her - Polka Mélancholique (1925). She also gave sculptor Isamu Noguchi and composer Aaron Copeland their first dance commissions. Page also embraced modern dance and Afro-Caribbean dance, giving a young Katherine Dunham (1909-2006) her start. Fresh from defecting from the Soviet Union in 1962, Rudolph Nureyev (1938-1993) made his first US appearance with Page’s company in New York City.
Also Born Today: Modern dancer and early member of the influential New Dance Group (1932-2009), Sophie Maslow (1911-2006) danced with Martha Graham (1894-1991) and her own work tackled social issues during the 1930s. Contemporary ballet choreographer Christopher Wheeldon (1973-), was named the first resident choreographer at NYCB from 2001-2008 and his best known works are Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (2011) and the Broadway musical An American in Paris (2015).
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Movie: The Great Ziegfeld released in 1936, one day after his birthday