At 18, Ruth Mitchell left Atlanta for New York City to follow her childhood dream of dancing on Broadway. After a professional career in shows like Bloomer Girl, Polonaise, Follow the Girls and Annie Get Your Gun starring Ethel Merman, she danced for 10 months in Paris with Ruth Page’s Les Ballets Americains.
Returning to Atlanta, Mitchell began a new career in teaching and choreography. Many of her early ballets were featured at the Southeastern Regional Ballet Association, an organization of outstanding regional ballet companies. It was at a SERBA performance that George Balanchine complimented her on her choreography and the caliber of her dancers. He invited her to come back to New York to attend his By Invitation Only workshops for teachers at the New York City Ballet, sponsored by the Ford Foundation.
Mitchell’s company subsequently attained professional status with paid dancers and tours throughout the Southeast. They also performed at the Riverside Theatre in New York. In 1986, Ruth Mitchell received the Governor’s Award in the Arts presented by Governor Joe Frank Harris.
In 2000, she sold her school and the Ruth Mitchell Dancer Theatre. She is currently on the faculties of the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education, the Atlanta Dance Theatre, and the British Academy of Performing Arts doing what she has always loved the most – teaching ballet.
The Georgia Arts & Entertainment Legacy Awards are brought to you by the Atlanta Coalition of Performing Arts in partnership with the Arts Leadership League of Georgia The 2007 GAELA Awards Official Caterer ...............................Official Hotel Spotlight Sponsors Footlight Sponsors Patron Sponsors
At 18, 
