Brunilda Ruiz worked with famed choreographers including Robert Joffrey, Gerald Arpino, John Butler, Jerome Robbins, Alvin Ailey, Jack Cole, Anna Sokolow and Brian MacDonald.
WALDWICK, NJ, May 14, 2019 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present Brunilda Ruiz with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Ms. Ruiz celebrates many years of experience in her professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes she has accrued in her field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Brunilda Ruiz, born in Puerto Rico and raised in New York City, graduated with honors from the High School of Performing Arts, now the Fiorello H. La Guardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. She began studying ballet at the 92nd Street YMHA with Martha Melincoff, who encouraged her to audition for the High School of Performing Arts on West 46th Street. There she met Robert Joffrey, who had recently arrived from Seattle with plans to form his own company. When Ms. Ruiz graduated, Joffrey chose her as one of the six founding members of the Robert Joffrey Ballet Company. She performed extensively throughout the United States, dancing mostly one night stands, traveling in a station wagon and, as the company expanded, by bus. During this time she performed in fifteen of Robert Joffrey's ballets as well as works by numerous other choreographers. Additionally, from 1959 to 1961 she danced as a soloist with the New York City Opera. When Rebecca Harkness, a wealthy patron of the arts, began supporting the Joffrey Ballet in 1962, the U.S. State Department joined her in sponsoring the company on a tour of Afghanistan, Syria. Lebanon, Jordan, India and the Soviet Union. In 1963, Ms. Ruiz became a founding member and principal dancer of the newly formed Harkness Ballet from 1963 to 1970. Ms. Ruiz worked with famed choreographers including Robert Joffrey, Gerald Arpino, John Butler, Jerome Robbins, Alvin Ailey, Jack Cole, Anna Sokolow and Brian MacDonald. Furthermore, in 1976, she starred in the Spanish television production of Angelitos Negros featuring salsa legends Willie Colon (music) and Celia Cruz (narrator).
As co-founder and associate director of the Baron Ballet Company in New Jersey from 1976 to 1983, she choreographed a number of ballets and won the National Association of Regional Ballet Choreographic Award in 1982 and 1983. She also received a choreographic fellowship from the New Jersey State Council of the Arts in 1983 and 1986. During this time she also taught at the New Ballet School founded by Eliot Feld. In 1983 and 1989 she set two ballets for the Juilliard Dance Ensemble as well as a ballet for the New Jersey Ballet in 1987. From 1983 to 1986, Ms Ruiz served as ballet mistress with the Milwaukee Ballet and set ballets for both the company and the school. During this time, Barbara Weisberger invited her to participate in two of the Carlisle Project Choreographic Workshops.
From 1986 until her retirement in 2001, Ms. Ruiz served on the faculty as a ballet instructor at her alma mater, the Fiorello H. La Guardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she taught and choreographed numerous ballets for the students. ln 1995 she received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York Empire State College. Throughout her career, she has appeared as guest teacher with the Northeast Regional Ballet, the New Jersey Ballet, the Cecchetti Council Summer Workshop, the Joffrey Ballet Summer Workshop, the Bartholin Seminar in Copenhagen and the Tomoko Cultural Center in Hong Kong.
Ms. Ruiz is married to Paul Sutherland, a former principal dancer with the Joffrey Ballet, Harkness Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. They have two daughters: Mhari Wilson, a dance instructor in Boise, Idaho and Alicia Sutherland, a public health researcher in Falls Church, Virginia; and four grandchildren, Jessica, Alicia, Michael and Zoe.
In recognition of outstanding contributions to her profession and the Marquis Who's Who community, Ms. Ruiz has been featured on the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement website. Please visit www.ltachievers.com for more information about this honor.
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