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Markers of Distinction

Ruth Page
1899–1991
Dancer and choreographer

Ruth Page was a pioneering figure in
American dance, and the most influential
dance presence that Chicago has ever
known. Choreographing operas into ballets,
she created an innovative art form that
became her signature throughout a
70-year career.

Page began dancing in 1914, and premiered
in Chicago in 1919 in the leading role of
The Birthday of the Infanta. In the mid-
1920s, she was prima ballerina for the
avant-garde Chicago Allied Arts company, and later became the ballet director for numerous other performing groups, including the Chicago Opera Company.

Chicago's annual performance of The Nutcracker, which Page first directed and choreographed in 1965, remains one of her lasting legacies. In 1970, Page founded the Ruth Page Foundation and School of Dance, which continues her legacy. Page's career reached far beyond Chicago. She performed throughout the United States and the world but kept an apartment known for its modern style in the Diana Court building at 540 North Michigan Avenue.