Brunilda Ruiz was a Puerto Rican ballet dancer, teacher, and choreographer.
11 Facts About Brunilda Ruiz
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Brunilda Ruiz toured internationally as a founding member of the Joffrey Ballet and Harkness Ballet companies.
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Brunilda Ruiz attended the High School for the Performing Arts later known as Fiorello H LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts, where Robert Joffrey taught her ballet.
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In 1956, Joffrey asked Brunilda Ruiz to be one of the six original Joffrey Ballet members.
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Brunilda Ruiz returned briefly to the Joffrey Ballet in 1968.
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Brunilda Ruiz was the first woman of hispanic heritage to appear in the Who's Who of America and was fondly known as the pride of Puerto Rico, returning to star in The Nutcracker with the Ballets de San Juan.
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Brunilda Ruiz 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.
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Brunilda Ruiz taught at the Joffrey Ballet School-American Ballet Center in New York.
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Brunilda Ruiz had two daughters, Mhari Theresa Wilson and Alicia Sutherland.
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In 1995, Brunilda Ruiz earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York Empire State College.
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Brunilda Ruiz died peacefully in her home surrounded by loved ones in Waldwick, New Jersey, on August 13,2019, at the age of 83.