Ruth Zaporah
July 8, 1936 - May 12, 2025
Ruth Zaporah, Creator of Action Theater, Dies Peacefully at 88
Ruth Zaporah, pioneering performance artist, visionary teacher, and founder of Action Theater—a highly influential improvisational practice integrating movement, voice, and narrative—died peacefully on May 12, 2025, at her home in Berkeley, Calif. She was 88. The cause was pancreatic cancer.
Zaporah was born on July 8, 1936, in Baltimore, Md., the daughter of Ethel Rahamah Himelfarb Glick and Henry Glick, an attorney. She grew up dancing “in the stairwells” from the age of three and went on to perform worldwide in theaters, concert halls, and even Balkan refugee camps. A brilliant shape-shifter, her embodied awareness in the field of improvisation made her a renowned teacher with far-reaching impact.
She developed Action Theater in the 1970s in Berkeley, Calif., as both a training method and performance form. Emphasizing embodiment, spontaneity, and presence, her work—rooted in physical theater, meditation, and real-time storytelling—became foundational for artists exploring the intersection of movement and language. Influenced by her degree in philosophy and a lifelong study of Buddhism, she wove a fascination with
+ Read More
Add a memory
