Dancing Through Time

An original dance performed by members of The Studio of Ballet Arts (SBA) honoring Ruth Lotz’s centennial birthday!  Dancing Through Time is both a film and a series of dances set to songs from different eras of the past 100 years, against a backdrop of Mrs. Lotz’s award-winning paintings.

Mrs. Lotz is the mother of SBA owner and director Alison Bawek. “My mother serves as a source of inspiration to me and many others.  She has encouraged and motivated so many people by setting an example with her creativity and determination,” says Ms. Bawek.  Ruth started to seriously paint at age 18 and continues to paint even as her vision fades. In addition to her talent with paints, she also composes original compositions on the piano, one of which – Trois, a tribute to the three Page sisters – will make its debut in Dancing Through Time.

The performers, who range in ages 3 to 18 and are all students at SBA, dance through time as well as through the community.  The dancing takes place throughout Sandy Spring Museum as well as other local landmarks and businesses within the Greater Olney/Sandy Spring area.  The Dancing through Time premiere performance on June 12th at 5:00 p.m. is a joint fundraiser for the Studio of Ballet Arts and Sandy Spring Museum.  Tickets are $20 for an adult, $15 for students.

More on Ruth E. Lotz:
Ruth’s passion for art began at an early age, earning her a bachelor’s degree of fine art from the University of Oregon in 1941. Since being diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration in 2002, her techniques evolved and transformed. No longer able to produce finely detailed paintings, she takes from memory scenes of places she loved and paints them in a new way. Always the artist, Ruth says, “In a way, I feel freer. The fact that I am unable to paint all of the intricacies of a flower doesn’t stop me from creating a beautiful flower.”

Ruth has been juried into membership of the Baltimore Watercolor Society (BWS) and Potomac Valley Watercolorists, is a member of the Gaithersburg Fine Arts Association and has been a member of other art leagues and associations. In 2011, she was honored at NIH’s Clinical Center in an effort by the National Eye Institute to raise awareness of eye disease. In 2012, she received the BWS Waterworks Gold Medal which was featured in the Watercolor Artist Magazine.  Despite being legally blind, Ruth has maintained her social life and passion for art and painting.

She also continues to enjoy her life-long love of music by playing the piano daily. She no longer reads the music of the great composers but continues improvising her own compositions.

For accommodation requests, please contact the museum via email or at 301-774-0022.