Ron Fletcher
| Ron Fletcher | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
May 29, 1921 Dogtown, Missouri |
| Died | December 6, 2011 (aged 90) Stonewall, Texas |
| Occupation | American Pilates Master Teacher |
Ron Fletcher (May 29, 1921 – December 6, 2011) was an American Pilates Master Teacher, an author and a Martha Graham dancer. He was also a Broadway stage, network television, cabaret and International Ice Capades choreographer. Fletcher is identified as a “Pilates Elder” – a “first-generation teacher” who studied directly under Joseph and Clara Pilates.
Originally referred to Joseph Pilates by fellow dancer, Allegra Kent, for treatment of a chronic knee injury, Fletcher was schooled in the principles of Body Contrology (the name Pilates gave to his fitness and conditioning method) by Joseph and Clara Pilates with whom he studied - in their New York City studio at 939 8th Avenue - on and off from 1948 until one year after Joseph Pilates’ death in 1967.
Following his turn with the Martha Graham Company, Fletcher was cast by Japanese choreographer Yeichi Nimura, alongside Yul Brynner and Mary Martin, in the role of Imperial Attendant (142 performances) in Nimura’s 1946 Broadway and London productions of The Lute Song. Following his professional dance career, Fletcher’s principal avocation, and that for which he became widely known in the entertainment industry, was choreography.
Fletcher worked from the late 1940s until 1971 as a theater, network television, nightclub stage, film and International Ice Capades choreographer. He set dance numbers in New York City for Broadway musicals including 1951’s long-running “Top Banana” (350 performances) as well as for Radio City Music Hall, Roxy Theatre, Latin Quarter and Copacabana stage dance/musical productions. In television’s early days in New York City he worked as both dancer and choreographer for the prime-time television studio production of the “NBC All Star Revue” where his featured dance partner was Tallulah Bankhead. Between 1954 and 1967 Fletcher choreographed shows in Chicago at Chez Paris; in San Francisco at Le Club; and in New Orleans at the Beverly Club. He was also lead choreographer in Paris at the Le Lido for four years where, among other things, he and long-time collaborator, Donn Arden, created “Gala” a show which included skaters on a tank of ice on stage. During that period, Fletcher also choreographed the large-scale Italian production of the 1965 musical “Il Diplomatico” at Teatro Milano as well as the 1954 film version of “Top Banana” and 1961’s comedy “Snow White and the Three Stooges.”
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