NIGHT OF STARS
A Boston Ballet Gala Benefit Performance Dedicated to the memory of Cathryn S. Keith
Boston Ballet Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen announced that the Company’s October 12 gala benefit performance at the Citi Performing Arts Center/Wang Theatre will celebrate the life of Mrs. Cathryn S. Keith, who died in Boston on September 20. Mrs. Keith, age 97, was a dedicated volunteer and avid supporter of the organization for more than 30 years. A long-time member of the Board of Overseers, she was recently named an honorary Trustee Emerita. Mr. Nissinen and Executive Director Valerie Wilder added that a new fund had been established in Mrs. Keith’s name. Contributions to the Cathryn S. Keith Memorial Scholarship Endowment may be sent to the Ballet’s Development Department, 19 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA 02116.
“The entire institution feels the loss of this gracious woman,” said Nissinen. “Cathryn touched all of our lives. The gala is the most fitting tribute I can think of, because she loved Company performances so much. And by establishing an endowment for Boston Ballet School scholarships, we’re recognizing her devotion to our students and her wonderful optimism.”
Cathryn Steinwart was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the youngest in a family of six. A devotee of music, museums, theater, and ballet, she had no formal training in any of the art forms that she so admired. Saturday visits to the Cincinnati Museum and concerts by the Cincinnati Symphony, under the baton of Fritz Reiner, were the start of these life-long interests, which blossomed further when she came to Boston.
In 1926, she was introduced to William Jackson Keith, a descendant of the Jacksons, original settlers of Newton. She was too young to marry but made such a deep impression that the couple did wed some nine years later. The Keiths settled in Boston, but traveled the world, fascinated in particular by its “out-of-the-way places.” Their adventures included extensive tours of South America, Europe, Africa, and the Far East. Mrs. Keith’s vivid reminiscences included a trip to Tierra del Fuego and crossing the Straits of Magellan by moonlight – on a barge.
With snow-white hair tucked into her trademark coiffure, the diminutive Mrs. Keith was instantly recognizable at the theater, at events around the city, in the Company’s offices, and even on the street. Volunteer rounds brought her to New England Medical Center, where she saw to the needs of children receiving chemotherapy, as well as to Boston Ballet, where her activities were many and varied. Her entrepreneurial spirit helped to launch the Company’s retail program and theater boutique. She sewed regularly for the Costume Shop and performed needed clerical services for the Development Department, where she was at her desk less than two weeks before her last illness. Each December, she was an escort for disabled and chronically ill youngsters at an invited dress rehearsal of the Company’s production of The Nutcracker.
“Mrs. Keith had a very special connection with children and with our students,” remarked Center for Dance Education Managing Director Elizabeth Benjes. “She adored the Company, but she took a personal interest in every aspect of Boston Ballet School and the Center.” Her annual scholarship gift was awarded on the basis of merit to a promising Boston Ballet School student, whose progress she would typically follow. One of her protégées, Sarah Lamb, went on to dance with the Company and, today, as a Principal with London’s Royal Ballet.
“It’s hard to grasp the fact that we will no longer have Cathryn as a daily source of encouragement and inspiration,” said Nissinen. “She was the heart of Boston Ballet.”
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