Ron Protas, Named Heir by Martha Graham, Dies at 84

Ron Protas, a longtime confidant of the choreographer Martha Graham who was named her sole heir, died on Oct. 15 at his home in Manhattan. He was 84, Kenneth Topping, a friend and former Graham company dancer and administrator, confirmed, saying the cause was cardiovascular disease; the death was not widely reported at the time.

Mr. Protas rose from being a freelance photographer in the late 1960s to become Graham’s close aide and, after her death in 1991, artistic director of the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance. Graham’s will left him her property, including sets, costumes and the rights to more than 180 dances she had created since 1926, a bequest that ignited bitter disputes with company members.

Critics in the Graham organization accused him of profiteering; “the most reviled man in dance,” the Times reported in 2000, was how some described him. Mr. Protas said the conflicts were driven by jealousy, and he conceded he had no formal dance training beyond learning the merengue at a Fred Astaire studio.

Tensions culminated in 2000 when the trustees removed him as artistic director and he sued to stop the center from using Graham’s name and performing her works. He ultimately lost: a federal judge, Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum, in decisions in 2002 and 2005 awarded control of almost all of Graham’s dances to the Graham Center, ruling that many pieces were not hers to bequeath and that he owed the center $241,000 in damages.

Key Topics

Culture, Ron Protas, Martha Graham, Martha Graham Center, Graham Technique, Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum