Ruth Page Festival of Dance

Ruth Page (1899 - 1991)

For many, Ruth Page and Chicago dance are synonymous. Her performing career spanned classical and avant-garde ballet to Broadway. In 1924 Ruth Page came to Chicago and became premier dancer for the Allied Arts Project, an avant-garde ballet company that was exploring new ideas in music and set design. In 1926 Page began her association with Ravinia. The music critic of the Chicago Tribune at that time wrote of her work at Ravinia: “She starts as a dancer by being a musician. She uses music better than anyone else in her profession, and she treats it with respect, neither distorting it nor making awkward cuts. Upon it she puts the pattern of her dance, sometimes in the old ballet form, like the pretty little Cinderella by Marcel Delannoy; sometimes fantastic, like Ravel’s Waltz; sometimes stylized, but always effective and exciting.”

Ruth Page’s love of new ideas began expressing itself as she developed her talent for choreography. She choreographed some of the first pieces to use American themes and expanded the traditional classical movement vocabulary in her works. In 1932 she went to Germany to study modern dance with Harold Kreutzberg. Rather than choosing to draw distinctions between ballet and modern dance, Page saw creative possibilities. She returned to Chicago in 1934 and, with Bentley Stone, created the Page-Stone Ballet. In 1954 she became choreographer and ensemble director for the Lyric Theater, now the Lyric Opera. Always the innovator, she began turning operas into full-length ballets, the most famous of which is The Merry Widow, which has been telecast on PBS.

In 1973 Page founded the Chicago Ballet. For many years this company performed works that reflected her broad perspective: the classical Aurora’s Wedding, modern dance innovator Doris Humphrey’s Water Study, and many of Page’s own works. Perhaps her most famous work is The Nutcracker, which for years was performed annually in Chicago. Dance critic Ann Barzel stated, “As a charming performer, Ruth Page gave pleasure to the public. To the dancers who worked with her, she gave professional training and artistic opportunities. To the history of dance, she left several chapters of innovation. To Chicago, she has bequeathed The Ruth Page Foundation, the fine dance center with a school, theater, a library and studios. And to the world of dance, she left a legend.”