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Sadly gone too soon: Promising young ballerina with Carolina Ballet was 2007 UNCSA graduate
Photo Courtesy of Steve Davis.
Elena Shapiro, shown here in peformances with the UNC School of the Arts School of Dance, was killed Friday when the car she was driving was rear-ended by another car. Maria Norment (above, right) puts flowers at a roadside memorial.
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Published: September 15, 2009
Updated: 09/15/2009 05:57 am
Elena Bright Shapiro was just beginning to make her mark in the dance world.
A native of Winston-Salem, Shapiro was a trainee with the Carolina Ballet in Raleigh and was preparing for several roles in the company's revival of Swan Lake, which begins this week.
Shapiro, 20, was killed Friday night when her car was rear-ended in Raleigh. The driver, Raymond Dwight Cook, has been charged with driving while impaired and felony death by motor vehicle. Cook is a surgeon at WakeMed Facial Plastic Surgery and an assistant professor at the UNC School of Medicine.
Shapiro entered the UNC School of the Arts' School of Dance as an eighth-grader and graduated with a high-school diploma in 2007.
She was just beginning her second season with the 37-member Carolina Ballet, said Robert Weiss, the artistic director and chief executive of Carolina Ballet.
The company is dedicating the Swan Lake performances to Shapiro, Weiss said.
"The one thing we can take pride in is that we do something that brings a lot of joy to people," Weiss said. "I'm sure Elena would want us to make these performances as joyful as possible."
Weiss said the company had a rehearsal Friday night that ended at 6:30. Elena was on her way to help two fellow dancers with a housewarming party when the crash happened about two hours later.
"We had a very positive rehearsal and everybody left in a good mood," Weiss said. "At 6:30 she was fine, and at 8:30 she wasn't with us anymore. I can't tell you how unreal that feels."
Weiss said that Shapiro will be missed as a friend, colleague and talented young artist. The company is postponing its rehearsal today to allow her fellow dancers to attend the funeral, Weiss said.
The funeral will be at noon at Wait Chapel on the campus of Wake Forest University, where her mother, Brantly Shapiro, teaches ballet.
Family members declined a request to comment for this story.
It is the second time in recent years that tragedy has touched the Shapiro family. In 2006, Elena's brother Samuel was hit in the stomach by a stray bullet as he walked on a residential street in Boston, nearly ending his dance career.
Gyula Pandi, an adjunct instructor at Wake Forest, began working with Elena Shapiro at UNCSA when she was 10. Even at such a young age her talent was obvious, Pandi said.
"She was very well disciplined, dedicated and a serious student," he said. "Working with her was always a pleasure."
Pandi had been working with Shapiro at Wake Forest for a solo dance that she planned to perform at the school's autumn dance concert.
"What happened is a heartbreak for all of us," he said.
Nina Lucas, the director of dance at Wake Forest, knew Shapiro for 14 years. Shapiro danced in a children's program at the university and performed with college students. Shapiro was raised in a family that emphasized the arts, Lucas said.
"She has this angelic face and beautiful doe eyes that were breathtaking to watch. She had the full package," Lucas said.
Ethan Stiefel, the dean of the School of Dance at UNCSA, said in a prepared statement yesterday that he believed Elena Shapiro would have had a "fulfilling professional career in ballet.
"It is so far beyond me to try to make sense of this situation," Stiefel said, "or to find a reason why someone as vibrant and loving as she was is no longer with us."
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