Bobbi Bader, RIP



The Sacramento ballet community has been thrown into turmoil by the abrupt death of Bobbi Bader, a Capitol City Ballet Company alumnus who has taught ballet for a number of years at 'The Ballet Studio' in a shopping plaza near Bradshaw and Folsom, near Rancho Cordova. Services were held Saturday at East Lawn Cemetery, at 43rd and Folsom, in Sacramento, with a reception following at her studio. Here is the Sacramento Bee obituary notice:

BADER, Roberta Ann (Bobbi)

Born September 20, 1951, in Sacramento, CA; passed away September 30, 2006, at the age of 55. Bobbi was the owner of The Ballet Studio for over 20 years. She was the beloved daughter to Robert and Marjorie Bader, who preceded her in death. Survived by her sister, Cynthia Holloway and her husband Thomas; nephews Thomas (TJ) and Robert Holloway of Rescue, CA, niece Elisa Holloway of Lowell, OR. She will be greatly missed by numerous relatives and friends. Funeral services will be held East Lawn Memorial Park, 43rd & Folsom Blvd., Sacramento, Saturday, October 7, at 2pm.

Published in the Sacramento Bee from 10/4/2006 - 10/5/2006.

People are working backwards from symptoms in order to figure out how this happened. She had apparently been unable to keep food down, suggesting a digestive ailment of some sort. She apparently hadn't consulted doctors - a practice discouraged by her Christian Science faith.

Ballet friends had apparently tried to help. One friend, E., in addition to being a student, is also a highly-regarded M.D., and she had offered to shop, or do anything that might be of service, but ever the stoic, Bobbi had firmly refused. I'm sure E. wasn't the only one to offer assistance.

Dance teaches many things. One of these things is a prickly sort of independence, a stubborn determination to master one's own body. In a moment like this crisis, when one should reach out, dance discourages doing so. Plus, reaching out for help to one's long-term friends - often, one's students - means inverting the traditional student/teacher relationship - another no-no.

The ballet community is reacting now by trying to cobble together a response to keep 'The Ballet Studio' open. One student suggests that 'Heidi and Pam' might jointly-offer classes, while inviting others to offer classes in their specialties as well (I don't know who Heidi is, but Pam is Pam Kay Lourentzos). I don't know what Pam's response is, though.

The studio's rent (~$850/mo.) is reasonable, and no upfront expenses are required to install floors and barres. For young, up-and-coming ballet teachers, this may be an excellent opportunity to get business experience.

People will be affected by Bobbi's passing for a long time. In Sunday's ballet class with Pam, E. got emotional when Pam highlighted a particular detail of port de corps as 'something Bobbi had emphasized for many years.' And I got emotional when Pam played Pachelbel's Canon in D Major - Bobbi's trademark barre music - for a floor exercise (I took class with Bobbi from 1991 to 1997, before getting so involved with community musical theater).

Bobbi inspired many students to work their hardest. We will miss her very, very much.