Patricia Klekovic Irwin

Patricia Klekovic’s dance training began at a local dance studio in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago and progressed when she won a scholarship at age 11 to attend the Edna McRae School of Dance. By 1965, she had been discovered by Ruth Page and was an integral part of her ballet companies and productions for many years, dancing lead roles in Camille, Carmen, The Merry Widow, and The Nutcracker, to name a few. Klekovic briefly danced as a principal in the Pittsburgh Ballet and returned to Chicago in 1975 to teach at Ruth Page School of Dance, where she still teaches today.