Ballerina, choreographer Boris dies

EL CERRITO, Calif., Jan. 17 (UPI) -- Ruthanna Boris, an American-born ballerina who became a lead dancer with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, has died at 99 of cancer.

Boris also choreographed several popular ballets, including "Cakewalk" and "Cirque de Deux," a spoof on ballet stars, the Los Angeles Times said.

Boris created "Cakewalk" in 1951, mixing ballet's form with the exaggerated, earthy moves of minstrel shows.

She danced with the American Ballet and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet in New York City in the 1930s before joining the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. She left the Ballet Russe in 1950 but continued dancing.

Boris was director briefly of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.

Injuries that required hip surgery played a role in forcing her to give up dance in the late 1950s. Brown became interested in dance therapy, and studied psychology and therapy at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she taught dance in the 1980s.

Boris, who died Jan. 5 in an assisted living home in El Cerrito, Calif., was preceded in death by her second husband, Frank Hobi, a ballet dancer. She is survived by a son.