Shirley Ririe died on Aug. 17 at the age of 96. FOX 13 News featured her impact on Utah dance in 1999.
For the past 35 years, Shirley Ririe and Joanne Woodbury have run the Ririe Woodbury Modern Dance Company, establishing a legacy that has put Utah on the map in the world of modern dance.
While it's modern dance that has made her famous, it's Ririe's spirit that makes her a true pioneer of progress in Utah's cultural landscape.
"As I have always said, you sense your livingness when you dance and when you teach," Ririe said.
Ririe especially loves teaching children to dance, bringing creativity and movement to young minds.
"She is probably one of the best teachers of children's dance in the whole country," said Joanne Woodbury, her longtime dance partner.
The daughter of prominent local actors Allien and Joseph Russon, Ririe's journey began at the University of Utah when she enrolled in a dance class taught by the legendary Betty Hayes.
"I immediately spotted her and figured she was somebody that I should encourage," Hayes said.
After college life filled with theater and dance, Ririe headed to New York to pursue her master's degree.
"I think when you're educated in dance, the whole human being is educated," Ririe said.
A call from BYU brought her back to teach in Utah, leading to a lifelong dancing partnership with Joan Woodbury.
"We both believe in the creative process. We both believe that everyone is creative and that given the right environment that creativity can be encouraged and developed," Woodbury said.
The Ririe Woodbury Dance Company has become an institution attracting dancers from across the globe since its founding in 1964.
"Shirley has an incredible amount of knowledge and that's why I'm here and I keep staying," said one company dancer.
Another dancer added, "For me, working with the founder of a modern dance company of 35 years is the deepest history I'm capable of having."
The early days weren't easy for the pioneering dance company.
"When we started this company we had no role models. Nobody. Because there wasn't such a company," Woodbury said.
"Actually, contemporary art forms are the most difficult," Ririe said. "And contemporary modern dance is the hardest I think."
But anyone who knows Ririe will tell you she is irrepressible.
"She's done very important work and I think really put this place on the map," said Phyliss Haskell, who was Ririe's student, a company dancer, and is now Vice President of Fine Arts at the University of Utah.
"We would go in, spend a lot of time with our sponsors, with children, with teachers, with community leaders, talking about the value of the arts in general, not just our art, not just who we were, but how important it was for them to support the arts in their community, and I think that has made a difference," Haskell said.
Through all of this, lives have been touched when Ririe taught them to dance.
"And he said, 'You changed my life.' And I think it really did. That incident changed him forever because he stopped being a bully, he stopped being obnoxious. He went back to school and all the kids in junior high said, 'Oh, we heard you danced with Nina.' And Nina was in high school, and she was beautiful. And it gave him a sense of self esteem and it gave him a feeling that he was worth something," Ririe said.
Hayes noted, "She's become an influence not only in this community, but an influence in the state and throughout the nation, and even internationally."
She has raised the profile of what Utah has to offer.
"I've heard many, many businessmen tell me their company came here because of the high level of culture," Ririe said.
Ririe accomplishes all of this with almost boundless energy.
"I'd get tired. We'd be dancing, we'd be doing all these things. I'd get tired. Shirley was always ready. 'Let's go out dancing after the performance,'" Haskell said with a laugh.
"She loves to shop. Did she tell you that? She's our shopper in the company," Woodbury added.
Ririe has served on local and national arts and dance steering committees her entire career. She has won numerous awards and this year received her honorary doctorate.
"I couldn't have done this without my husband. He's been absolutely fabulous all the way through," Ririe said.
"Can you imagine being married to that much energy all your life?" her husband Rhees said.
Rhees and Shirley have four daughters and 13 grandchildren. Along with his banking career, Rhees looked after the kids when Shirley couldn't be there.
"My favorite book in all the world is 'Winnie the Pooh.' And I've read it so many times that I chuckle every time that I think about it," Rhees said.
"We've had a good time. Yeah, it has been a good ride," the couple shared.
Ririe helped establish a tradition where there was none before.
"Being a dancer is real pioneer stuff," she said.
"I think we have quite high standards for what we do. And we have a strong feeling about what we'd like to present to audiences," Ririe added.
But her greatest love is education.
"In every instance, the people we bring to dance begin to love it. And that's the payoff," Ririe said. "It makes everything you do meaningful and important."
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