Mr. Rodriguez, who danced professionally with Ballets de España in Madrid, Spain; Detroit Ballet Theatre; Cincinnati Opera Company, and the Dayton/Toledo Opera Company, served on the Dance Panel of the National Foundation for the Arts. He was the recipient of choreography grants from the National Endowment for the Arts; was on the steering committee of the DANCE/USA National Dance Education Task Force; and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Montgomery County/Board of Commissioners. In 2007 he was honored by Regional Dance America for his continued commitment and dedication to the excellent teaching of young ballet dancers in the U.S.
Among the professional dancers he mentored were DeAnn Duteil and Amy Danis who danced with the Joffrey Ballet; Donna Wood, a principal with Alvin Alley Dance Company; Dan and Joe Duell, principals with New York City Ballet; Becky Wright, a ballerina with the Joffrey Ballet Company and the American Ballet Theatre; Susanne Walker and Camille Ross, dancers on Broadway; Judy Denman, principal with Eliot Feld Dance Company; Nicole Scherzinger of “Dancing with the Stars,” and Sarah Staker, a New York Radio City Rockette.
Jeffrey Gribler, who danced with the Pennsylvania Ballet, studied with Mr. Rodriguez from ages 8 to 17 and said he was teacher, mentor and artistic father. “He believed in my talent more than anyone except possibly my Dad,” said Gribler. “I treasure everything he taught me and gave me.”
Bess Saylor Imber, a Dayton Ballet colleague who taught, danced and choreographed with Mr. Rodriguez, said working with him was like working with a painter. “He choreographed right before your eyes — showing you steps that were racing across his mind. He couldn’t get them out fast enough and we’d be alert trying to capture all his beautiful movement phrases.”
Saylor said her friend could be extremely funny, but was intense and serious about his art. “He felt art was life at its highest and most meaningful,” she said.
W. Stuart McDowell, Wright State’s chair of theater, dance and motion pictures, said Mr. Rodriguez was a pillar in the dance community. “The one word I would use to characterize him is ‘grace,’ ” he said.
Melissa (Swartz) Irons knew Mr. Rodriguez when she danced with the Dayton Ballet and more recently as a nurse at Bethany Village where he resided. “Jon was a teacher that made you want to move,” she said. He invested time into his dancers and made you feel like you had something great to offer the world. He exposed himself to you artistically and you felt honored to perform his choreography.”
A celebration of Rodriguez’s life is being planned with a date yet to be determined.
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