Eight decades into her love affair with ballet, Ruth White still performs every move with her students. Warming up a class recently, she sat on the floor and extended her legs in a wide V.
“Back straight, now lean forward,” she said, stretching until her own forehead touched the floor.
It’s no wonder the petite 92-year-old seems decades younger. Her joyful approach to life extends far beyond dance.
White, who’s called Wichita home for seven years, grew up in Austin, Minn.
“I had two brothers, so I was a total tomboy,” White said. “I climbed trees, played football, scaled the walls at our school. That’s when my mom said, ‘That’s it! You’re going to dance school.’ I went and loved it.”
When she was 16, two women asked if she would teach their children dance. The moms found a big room with a wood floor on the second floor of a bottling company.
“I thought it was a palace,” White said. “I opened my own school of dance, 25 students right off the bat, and that began a long career.”
During her career, she performed with the Rochester Minnesota Ballet Company. “But for many years I presented my own ballet performances,” she said. Often, she created the story and scenery, designed the costumes and performed.
“I drove my family crazy,” she said. “After every program, I’d tell them I would never do another one. That went on for 52 years.”
Photos by Bonnie Bing
Decades of dance have kept Ruth White limber.
Later, she decided she needed a new adventure. One of her sons had moved to Alaska. “I sold my dance school, packed up my car, took my dog, Toto, and drove to Alaska,” she said. “I stayed there eight months and it was quite an adventure.”
White, who’s been widowed for 14½ years, now has one son who lives in Wichita, another in Thailand and a daughter in Minnesota.
She considers teaching and bringing people together her life’s mission. After living in Wichita for a year, she invited neighbors to join a Bible study and prayer group. She didn’t get much of a response.
“I thought, ‘what do women like to do?’ Exercise!” she said.
So she mentioned to neighbors that she’d love to start teaching stretching exercises and “her own version” of ballet to a group. White has a studio in her basement and was already teaching children who are home-schooled.
Soon, several female neighbors started gathering twice a week in the studio. Participants say they love the sessions, not only for the physical benefits of moving but for the encouragement they receive.
“And now we are praying together,” White said. “Our motto is: Better Together.”
One of her favorite activities is taking her young students to perform in nursing homes four times a year. “I give these children the opportunity to put on programs for grandmas and grandpas, but they aren’t just performing, she said.
Upon arrival, each child says into a resident’s ear: “You are beautiful and Jesus loves you.”
“And when they leave there are hugs. Lots of hugs,” White said.
Dance is just one ingredient in White’s recipe for happiness.
“First, fall in love with Jesus. Love yourself. Love your neighbors. Reach out and help other people. Be smart about what you eat. Be sober because you don’t need any artificial substance to stay happy. And love children. They keep me young, even if I can’t always hear what they’re saying.”
And with a big laugh she added, “Maybe I don’t want to know.”
Reach Bonnie Bing at bingbylines@gmail.com.
