In Memoriam: Ruth E. Grauert Ruth Emma Demora Grauert mentor, teacher, director, and friend to generations died peacefully at her home in Jersey City, New Jersey, on Wednesday, May 20, 2020, after a brief illness. Close members of her very supportive family were at her side. She was 101 years old. From 1939 to 1943, Ruth had classes with Martha Graham and Hanya Holm, Alwin Nikolais, and Truda Kashman, and ballet with Deloris Guidone. She danced in the preWorld War II Hartford Nikolais Company and briefly in the Kashman Company. Then, in New York City, in the Charles Weidman Dance Company Following World War II, she supervised all childrens classes at the Henry Street Playhouse and acted as the Playhouse stage manager for the many dance concerts presented there and as production stage manager for the Nikolais, Louis, Lamhut and Blossom companies from the 1950s to the late 1980s. In 19791980 she was production manager and instructor for the Centre national de danse contemporaine (CNDC) in Angers, France. She toured world-wide as the production stage manager for the Nikolais Dance Theater from 1948 to 1988 and taught lighting at the Nik/Lou lab throughout that period. Ruth held a B.A. from Ursinus College, 1939, and an M.A. from Columbia University, 1941. She was the recipient of the 2005 Martha Hill Lifetime Achievement Award and Doctorates of Humane Letters from Ursinus College in 2009 and Centenary College in 2013. She wrote widely on contemporary dance, publishing numerous essays, articles and reviews on dance aesthetics, education, staging and lighting. Many of these articles appear here on this site. With her life partner, Frances Reid, she founded Bearnstow in 1946 as a childrens camp, which continued into the 90s. By the late 90s it had become a summer arts place, bringing to students the opportunity to discover and know, first hand, the world of dance. The camp also continued to provide a day camp for children for two weeks each summer. Bearnstow was unique among childrens camps for its principles of inclusion, diversity and generosity, as an inter-racial, inter-religious, and non-discriminatory institution a philosophy that became a hallmark of Bearnstow throughout the decades. Along with an international faculty, Ruth taught her own classes, with emphasis on the aesthetic principles of Alwin Nikolais, through the summer 2019. Ruth Grauert and Beverly Blossom View a 2015 interview with Ruth by Beverlys son, Michael. Tributes and remembrances, sent to jim@bearnstow.org will be posted here. See also Remembering Reg on Facebook. Posts from Nikolais and Louis Alumni Tribute to Ruth E. Grauert by Adriana León
We remember dance critic, lighting designer and choreographic composition teacher Ruth E. Grauert who passed away on May 20, 2020, at the age of 101. Adriana León: Interpretation and Choreographu\y
Alejandro Veyra: Camera and Lighting Jonathan Trejo: Editing Music: Life from the album HOME Sound Track of the documentary HOME of 2009 directed by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. Label: NAIVE (Indigo) Carolyn Carlson In homage to Ruth Grauert: What a beautiful and honorable life she lived, instilling the genius of Alwin Nikolaiss work, philosophy, and teachings. Her support and devotion to the dance world is an indelible mark in our history. Lynn Lesniak Needle There are no words to express the deep loss of Dr. Ruth Grauert. She was simply the most humble, intelligent and loving woman I knew who gave selflessly to the world of dance. Her aesthetic and curatorial eye was impeccable and she expected the best out of her students and colleagues. She was known for never being sloppy and always having integrity. I love her and will miss her. Her lifes work will live on with the AOMDT. We all love, cherish and respect you, Ruth. Mimi Garrard She will be missed by all of us, but her ideas and vision will live on.
Clarence Brooks I am so saddened to hear this news. Stephanie Scopelitis What a remarkable woman. Her spirit lives on in her art Paula Aarons What a wonderful and wild spirit, I am so grateful to have spent time at Bearnstow with her. Im sure shes already into another great investigation! Dudley Brooks Very, very sad news. Such a wonderful person, and so very inspiring in every possible way. A tremendous loss to all of us personally and to the dance community in general. Trista Redavid DeFilippis So very sorry to read this. Ruth was a tell it like it is person so knowledgeable and willing to give you advice she will be missed. Rest In Peace. Doris Caravaglia Dear Ruth RIP. You have left a place in our hearts that cannot be filled. Another chapter is closed of a remarkable artist that gave her being for the love and devotion of dance . Her passion was unequaled by few and will be left for all to remember Rob Esposito So, so, sad. A dear and remarkably talented soul. So many fond memories of her careful mentorship, her steady hand at the helm, her wicked good humor. She always had a solution to any problem, tech or personal, always a willing, wise and understanding friend to the art and its artists. Its no wonder Nik trusted her sol Its a comfort to know that she passed peacefully and with loved ones. Kelly Roth Truly impressive legacy and engaged to the end. A great example to is all!! RIP
Alberto del Saz Sad news indeed, her legacy will live in all of us. Remarkable woman. Jim Teeters Memories... Ruth took Niks company out on tour in 1971. We were a fresh group of kids following an almost complete turnover. (Susie and Gerald were the only holdovers after a 16 week tour of Europe.) Ruth held us together on our bus and plane rides throughout upper New York State, lit the shows, directed us in all aspects of being members of NDT. She was calm, humorous, understanding and direct. A very fine person. Joe Zina Ruth was tough, talented and always there with words of wisdom. She joins the other many wonderful women of the Alwin Nikolais legacy that we loved... Hanya Holm, Claudia Gittleman, Betty Young, Ruth Scherer and Beverly Blossom. And say hi to our guys up there Nik and Murray. Marcia Wardell Kelly Ruth was always generous with good advice. When in Angers teaching, she helped lay out a dinner for guests saying: Never put all of your main dish in the serving bowl. Always leave some in the pot... just in case. She was always asking about my children. Forever interested. We will all miss her. Rob Esposito Throughout the night, throughout the weight of loss, sadness, vivid memories as if etched in a foggy mirror. Ruth in a red jacket, the scent of Borkum Riff, a wry twinkle in her eye. Ruth standing at the front of the bus waving a paperback over her head, voice raised above the din, Who here wants The Human Zoo!? a humorous twist of irony in her voice. Intelligence, purpose, art. Another great one passed from our Earthly comings and goings.
Helen Kent Nicoll Always curious, forever engaged, a force of nature who loved to question and see anew. A sage who found life forever interesting. Dearest Ruth, I will miss you. Love, Helen Gregory L. Bain RIP Ruth. You will be missed. Karen Sefton Safrit RIP Ruth. She shared such passion for her work. Undoubtedly her passions touched each of us in an indelible way. The impact is immeasurable, and continues, as over 101 years, her influence has rippled through generations. What a remarkable journey she took on this planet. Susan Penelope Lloyd Wonder Woman. Betsy Fisher Ruth had a long productive life to be celebrated. She was a force of nature. Tandy Beal Ruth... yes, a force of nature, my very thought... direct, truthful, uncompromising, passionate... she taught me how to see early on... she said take a breath before you look at the next comp study, clear your mind and see it with new eyes. we were roommates early on in my touring with Nik... after a short period, she said i like you but i need a new roommateyou have the "spreading out" disease and i have the tidy one! i feel lucky to have danced with her in her 90s as many of us did... thank you Joan J Woodbury for the daily improvs in SLC Alwin Nikolais legacy workshop. Thank you Ruth for the unquenchable love for the art, for this lineage, for teaching.
Rob Esposito Beautiful, Tandy. Joelle Van Sickle So sorry to hear. May her legacy live on. Sara Hook She was such a visionary force. And so keen and suppoortive George Gracey Ruth had a wonderful way of being, instructing, kind, forceful, stern, funny and lovable all at the same time. For example, on that 71 new company Upstate New York tour (that Jim Teeters mentioned in his tribute) it was my turn, as a very young, very green stage manager, to learn The Nikolais Way. I made so many screw-ups, I just know Ruth wanted to drown me. When I would do something really stupid Ruth would take a puff off the pipe, cross her arms, put her chin on her chest and mutter, jeeezus peezus, George! Yeah, I got a lot of that, but I have a feeling that I am only one of hundreds, maybe even thousands, who learned a lot from Ruth. Ruth, Im gonna miss you especially the conversations we had every year on our March 24th shared birthday. Birthdays will never be quite the same. I love you, Ruth. Elizabeth Higgins So sorry to hear! She has been such an incredible source of inspiration and artistry. Im so happy that I had the chance to know and dance with her. She was such a great spirit! My thoughts are with all her family and friends. Lynn Levine Rico Dancer, teacher, production stage manager, arts camp founder, philosopher...With the sharp eye of a true artist, teacher, and mentor, Ruth reached out to find creative potential in us all and to demand that potential be fulfilled. She had a unique ability to challenge in order to inspire. Ruth held high ethical ideals and lived those ideals many decades before they became broadly accepted in society. Ruth, you have contributed so much to so many. Your spirit will be missed. RIP, dear Ruth. Mimi Garrard I keep thinking about Ruth. What amazed me was the way she kept learning and growing. She was more intelligent, curious, observant, and enlightened at 101 than she was at 40 years old. Nature and art are magical together.
Michael Blossom Hello Jim, I am so sorry to hear of Ruths passing. I am not being facetious when I say that in my heart, I felt she would make it to 150, although of course my brain knows better. I send my condolences to you. I hope that you and others will find a way to keep Bearnstow going its so special but I know this is not the moment to worry about that. As you know, Ruth was a very important person in my moms life and career. Bev loved Ruth very much. Marc Lawton I realize France has not spoken up in memory of Ruth. I shared the news of her passing with former colleagues/friends from the Angers days (I copy this to four of them, Philippe, Louis, Christine and Dominique, but there are many others), and all of us were saddened by her death, remembering her strong character, her sense of guiding us as young dancers, her piercing eye, her insistance in trying to explain to us French what abstraction in dance meant, her generosity and last but not least... her pipe!
Suzy McDermaid Fridell Ill never forget Ruth during my time as a dancer in Niks company. She was an amazing force of energy and brilliance. During rehearsals, shed be fully ensconced in technical details, working on slides, lighting, and myriads of projects, and yet as she passed by dancers stretching on the floor, she managed to stop, lean down, and make a postural correction on an unsuspecting dancer, all the while with a heavy Fresnel lighting instrument hanging from her arm.
My husband Bob and I came to Bearnstow often after I had taught a workshop in 2008, either to choreograph a dance for the interns, to attend a Nikolais event, to take a workshop or even betterto just come to be with Ruth. That was enough for me! I just wanted to be with Ruth. When I would ask her what I could do to help around the place, she would always say, Just talk with me. And we would! Sometimes we would dance together, too. I am sure that many people were adopted by Ruth. Her heart was gigantic. Her voice raspy and tender. Her cheek so very soft to learn against, to kiss. I loved her so very much. Just to hear her say my name was a healing balm. My first personal encounter with Ruth was in 1975 when I presented my first NYC concert at The Cubiculo with Anne Ridgway, a former Nikolais Company member. Ruth came rushing into the dressing room after the concert asking, Where is Susie Creitz? Where is Susie Creitz? Looking at each other she said, Your dances were wonderful! They were great beginnings! Then she quickly left! I was taken aback at first since I thought the dances were fine as they were. Upon reflection I realized that Ruth was right. These dances were just beginnings. Her tremendous gift of an honest, generous critique along with her presence at the concert was something that I have remembered and used throughout my role as a mentor to other budding artists. Bob and I would take Ruth to events in the city, take her home and on occasion stay overnight on the pullout sofa. Her family home of many memories including her framed childhood drawings hanging on the living room wall, again, created another easy place to talk about anything and everything. The last Thanksgiving dinner before the pandemic we spent eating in her tiny kitchen. Bob and I had brought a cooked meal and lots of extras so that there would be leftovers for the week to come. Sure enough, as soon as dinner was over, ever resourceful Ruth began making bone soup. I think her brain was always thinking of possibilities. While she spoke of the past, she lived in the future. In 2020 I was invited to be part of Ten Tiny Dances presented by the director of dance at Cedar Crest College, Allentown, PA. Being in the height of the pandemic, this viral concert imposed a space limitation. I used the singing score I had created at Bearnstow for a group dance, commissioned by Ruth, created in a leaf-covered field in 2014. It served as inspiration for a solo on a leaf-covered rickety bridge in Pennsylvania. When it was completed, I thought that Ruth might like it. You see, Ruth was the essence of a wild soul, someone who never lost her connection to the earth, sky and water. Mussed white hair, keen blue eyes, deep seated laugh, swift anger, abounding compassion. A true wild woman with incredible honesty. She cared for us all. While she was the bos, she was also a great listener as mother-teacher-friend-mentor, determined to carry out her mission of preserving the aesthetics of Alwin Nikolais while reminding people of their roots... their souls... in nature. Bearnstow kept her alive as she kept Bearnstow alive. Ruth and I were to teach together at Bearnstow the summer before she died. I was looking forward to that so very much. Ruth... I promise that I will listen for your voice in the trees, in the wind, in the lake, in the laughter, in the silence, in my bodyand that I will keep working! Love, Susie
Posts from Bearnstow
Arthur Fink Remembering Ruth Grauert (March 24, 1919May 20, 2020) Dancer, mentor, teacher, Creator of Bearnstow an amazing center where we can be present with the earth and the earths creatures, with each other in deep and wonderful ways, with dance and with great dancers and teachers. For me, she was an amazing source of encouragement and creative opportunity. Thank you, great universe, for sending Ruth Grauert to nurture us all, to connect us, and to help us learn from some amazing people. These pictures were taken at Bearnstows last resident show with Reg (Ruth Grauert).
Kyle S. Haver Such a loss of spirit, insight and knowledge... her voice and feedback still echo within. Malcolm MacDonald Thank you, Ruth, for touching and guiding so many of us. Your nurturing, critical, eye. Your profound depth of knowledge and understanding have stayed with me all these years. What a great, authentic, holistic life. Brava! Emily Paine I would not be who I am today without her influence throughout my childhood and adolescence. Not a day goes by without her wisdom weaving its way into my life in some way. Kevin Pace Miss you Reg and Fran. Thank you for all you taught me. It truly made me who I am today. Every day I use something you both taught me. Love you both. You can be at peace with Fran and all the animals now Kathy Gaedje So Sad to hear this . I am so happy that I was able to see her in Hartford in Nov. What an amazing person she was. Jeffrey D. Pulis So sad to hear. I had been looking forward to spending a few weeks with her at the Camp this summer before all of our plans were upended. Tom Paine One of the most influential women in my life. I believe she lived one of the best lives anyone could hope for. I hope I can stop by Bearnstow this summer to remember her. Sharon Kantowitz Was hoping to spend some time at camp this summer to relive old times. She was one of a kind. Cindy Lougee Deepest condolences to the Bearnstow family from the Lougee family (Concord, NH). Emily Paine I would not be who I am today without her influence throughout my childhood and adolescence. Not a day goes by without her wisdom weaving its way into my life in some way. Sharon Kantowitz Was hoping to spend some time at camp this summer to relive old times. She was one of a kind. Sarah Jane Thompson Aguirre An impressive long life. Sue Tungate So sorry, KJ. Kate Moore Sarah Nickell :( Audrey Le I was shocked and saddened when I read of Ruths passing. I was so looking forward to seeing you in just a few weeks! Please pass along my condolences to her family, her nephew, and her many dear friends. I was honored then as I am now to have known Ruth. She was such a life force and inspiration to me and probably everyone she met. So Jim, to you, to Peter, to Molly, to Robin, to the dancers, to the many friends who graced the dinner table, and especially to Ruth I thank you all for including me at Bearnstow last summer. It was a joy of a lifetime. Jane Jerardi Just wanted to send a note here to say how sorry I am to hear this news. What a force! I feel so lucky to have met Reg and to have experienced Bearnstow. She bestowed many gifts to all of us I will always remember her. Sandra Rivera Ah!!! A life well lived. I was fortunate to have experienced this extraordinary woman while attending Bearnstow this past summer (2019). I was and will remain in awe of Ruths powers of dance artistry and vision of communal celebration through her Bearnstow summer arts camp. I shall always honor and cherish her memory. Alene Onion That is very sad news. I spent my childhood at Bearnstow where half the day we played free in the forest building lean to teepees, playing town, and trading porcupine quills, moss, dragonfly nymph exoskeletons, and strangely shaped galls. I got in trouble for bringing plastic ribbon to decorate my teepee and for stripping a pine branch of its bark to use as rope but we were rewarded by her visits and lessons on the lichens, mushrooms and insects. It was a dance camp and Ill never forget the modern dance teachers I was lucky enough to learn from, but it was the forest and her love of it that in part sparked my love and career in ecology. I will miss you dearly Ruth. (Photo of Reg holding my daughter Lyra for the first time) Molly Hess So Beautiful Alene, Thank you for sharing that image and your memories. Even in recent years when Reg didnt interact with the campers as much and didnt really know the new campers, whenever she got a chance to speak to one of them, she gave them that bright, warm, direct attention like she has with Lyra in that image. She connected so clearly and genuinely with each person and gave a special generosity to kids. Love her and miss her so much. Thank you for returning to camp each summer and passing your knowledge onto this generations campers, I hope we can continue that. We will miss it this summer. xo, Molly Eric Jones Im so sorry to hear this news. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to know Reg and I am forever grateful for her generosity and warmth. I must say thank you to Jim for inviting me to join the Natural History Week at Bearnstow years ago and every year since. My heart goes out to everyone at Bearnstow and all the others who Reg touched. She was indeed a remarkable woman and will be sorely missed. Andrea (Tholl) Dente and family I am so sorry to read this. Ruth was my mothers cousin. I had just emailed Ruth photos of my sons, my husband and me. When I didnt receive an email back, I was concerned but figured she was busy or possibly struggling with the Virus. What did she die from? Please give her close family our sincerest condolences. To whom may I send a sympathy card? Thank you for informing everyone. Andy Chiang We are very shocked and saddened by this news. We will miss her energetic voice in Begen Dance Makers gatherings. We are sure that she is free and dancing wherever she is now. Deborah Foster I am very saddened to hear for Ruth Grauerts passing. I only met her last summer, but she made a lasting impression upon me. To say she was inspiring would be an understatement. I send my heartfelt condolences to all who knew and loved her. Karla Coyazo There is no goodbye for a being who gave life to so much creation, so much movement, to so much love. Your memory remains in my heart! Gracias por siempre! Linda W Combs I am so very saddened to hear of Ruths passing. She was a wonderful friend and inspiration. I will truly miss her. Eliizbeth Keen I deeply saddened by this news. It seemed Reg would always be with us. Her spirit will live on. With love, Liz Nancy Salmon Walking today with Laura Faure she told me of Regs death. Im so sad and so very glad to have spent time with her at Bearnstow these past two summers. What a gift she is. What a long and fruitful, FULL life. Im sending my condolences and my love to you all. Blessings, Nancy Pat and Bill Rosenberg It is a sad day for Mount Vernon and the world. We will miss our remarkable and well loved neighbor. Robin Gilmore, Bearnstow faculty member 20102019 Oh Reg. She could turn up anywhere at any time and jump right into whatever was happening. That shoulder shimmy was a trademark move along with whistling while she walked. A regular part of my summer workshops is a form called the Medicine Wheel that we practice every day out in the clearing. Reg would often participate or, in later years, watch from her porch. Last summer she said to my group, You can be doing the wheel wherever you are even without the gestures. And so she keeps turning for all of us who were lucky enough to be a part of Bearnstow. Jo Tibby, Mount Vernon, Maine Dear Ruth, You will always be with me and I will always miss you. Rowan (Kei) Ching My dear friend Ruth passed away at 101 years old this week. The summers I spent with her at Bearnstow shaped me into the dancer and person I am today. I am so grateful to have known this amazing woman who brought so many good people together. Reg, you will be deeply missed. Sara Pearson Improvising with 98-year-old Ruth Grauert up at Bearnstow 2017. Happy Trails, dear Ruth. You lit my first NYC dance concert in 1975.
Deb Doten, Hallowell, Maine |