The dancer Patricia Ruanne, who has died aged 77, was one of a select group of friends who worked long hours with Rudolf Nureyev to create his production of Romeo and Juliet for London Festival Ballet’s contribution to the Queen’s silver jubilee celebration in 1977. Nureyev’s ballet was faithful to Shakespeare’s play, and he knew his Juliet needed to be strongly motivated.
The critic Alexander Bland said after the first night: “Patricia Ruanne acted Juliet with a genuine power, as a strong positive girl for whom luck runs out, and tackled the difficult dancing without faltering.” Richard Davies noted that “this Juliet … with her high forehead and cheekbones, has stepped straight out of the Renaissance”. Ruanne’s career was not defined by just one role, but her Juliet reflected her ability as both a dance-actor and a ballerina.
