'Swan Lake' Prima Ballerina Passes Away.(Obituary)

Publication: Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, NM)

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COPYRIGHT 2001 Albuquerque Journal

Byline: Paul Logan Journal Staff Writer

* Star of Chicago opera company and owner of Cleveland dance school would have turned 95 this week

Ruth Pryor Swanson was the first prima ballerina in America to dance Tchaikovsky's famous "Swan Lake" in the 1930s, said Swanson's daughter, Janis Buckingham.

When Swanson starred for the Chicago Civic Opera Company, the Windy City was considered the center of ballet in America by the critics, Buckingham said.

Swanson died May 31 of congestive heart failure. She would have been 95 this Thursday.

After Swanson left the stage, she opened a ballet school in Cleveland, passing along her knowledge to many aspiring dancers for a quarter century. She even gave lessons to film star Leslie Caron.

Swanson once...

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