I remember when I first met Ramona van Nortwick (known as “Ms Ramona”) around Greenville. I had lived in Greenville a number of years and had opened a dance studio off Firetower Road in 1997. We (my husband George and I) had just bought our first home in the Rock Springs Park neighborhood where she had lived and worked for many years – and now we were neighbors! Ramona’s studio was the only one in Greenville for many years and she taught virtually everyone – who is now 40 or over! From ballet to tap, from musical theatre to ballroom, Ramona taught it all. On a personal note, both my father-in-law George Saad Sr. took ballroom and his sister Josephine Saad took adult ballet from Ramona. No challenge was too great. We were at a neighborhood cookout at a neighbor's home and I and introduced myself to her. She was thrilled to make the connection and had heard good things about my studio - Greenville Civic Ballet. I visited her frequently in her home and we spent hours talking about dance, how it has changed over the years while looking through her collection of dolls, handmade Faberge eggs and the various crafts she enjoyed creating. She was excited about me bringing a “breath of fresh air” into the Greenville Dance Community and told me that although my ballet program was impeccable, that I need to add tap classes to my roster and “combo” ballet/tap classes for young dancers. Very foreign to me at the time, I resisted, and resisted some more. In the meanwhile, I asked her to join my fledgling Board of Directors of the Eastern NC Dance Foundation and she readily accepted. She actually took the time to host a cocktail party at her home, inviting her former students and friends who she knew supported and loved dance. She introduced me to “her” people and gave me an opportunity to espouse the virtues of the newly created Foundation and what we could accomplish if we could get all the Greenville area studios to come together to host master class series and dance related events. Shortly thereafter, she recruited several of her former students to serve on the Board - and serve they did! In fact, Ramona, Kathryn and Faye served 2+ consecutive terms and just recently resigned after many years of steadfast service. Words cannot express my gratitude to Ramona and those she recruited to “BELIEVE” in my dance ideals of performing community service through dance outreach. She would attend as many of
our performances as she could, always sitting in the front row. We could always count on her enthusiastically praising the dancers, choreography and training. In an especially touching moment, she made a $100 contribution to the Foundation after the Company’s perfomance of “I’ve Got Rhythm” – because she was so moved by the experience. Ramona always told me she didn’t have a lot of money to give to the Foundation, since her heartstring was her treasured Radio Reading program for the blind. But Ramona was a wealth of treasure in many other ways. She called me to her house one afternoon to give me her stack of 45 vinyl singles from the 70’s and 80’s and a copy of original choreography that is also in residence with The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ramona was well known for her arts and crafts – especially her baskets which she would weave and sell or give for special occasions such as weddings, Easter and birthays. When my daughter Logan was born in 2002, she weaved me a beautiful baby basket - which I will always cherish. She took pride in the fact that she could still “shake a leg” and took tap-dance/aerobics classes well into her 80’s. She also believed that a “girl” should be able to do whatever she wanted. She was my example – my hero. She also introduced me to Mavis Ray, formerly of East Carolina University Dance Department and before that – professional dancer/actress on Broadway – including the original movie “Annie”. She would bring Mavis to observe class (and Mavis always gave me corrective criticism – whether I wanted it or not)! What you may or may not know at this point is that Ramona van Nortwick was blind. Not only was she blind (only able to see shadows in bright light), she survived cancer, open-heart surgery, and the deaths of her beloved husband, son and grandchild. Throughout all her lives trials and tribulations, even after she knew it was time for her to move from her home (in which she taught dance for over 40 years) to Cypress Glen, she was still a survivor. She always had a smile, joke and kind word for everyone she spoke to. My biggest regret is that I didn’t spend enough time with her over the past 3 years due to many deaths and major life events within my family. I will sorely miss Ramona’s sweet smile, her endearing personality and wit. I hope the Company dancers realize the trail she blazed in ensuring our future in eastern North Carolina. So god bless and keep you Ramona as I know you are looking down on all of us and hoping we will realize the value that dance has for all of us. You are my hero.