http://www.miamiherald.com/news/obituaries...ry/1088388.html

It is my sad duty to report to you all the death of a wonderful and beloved teacher and friend. I had wondered whatever I could say to find some joy in making this announcement, and then I realized that Miss Mahr was someone to celebrate in her own right, and also someone who can be appreciated through her students. She taught Fernando Bujones before he fascinated the School of American Ballet, and Lourdes Lopez, Victoria Leigh, Mark Goldweber, and...me, among many others. She helped me recover from my first (involuntary) tour of Vietnam, and showed me a standard of ballet excellence that has stayed with me wherever I go. Anybody professional who came to Miami always seemed to end up in Miss Mahr's classes, they were that demanding and that satisfying to take. Now I have to say that I have even more to celebrate, as the Herald gave a lot of column inches to a ballet teacher, and that is a tribute in itself.

May she have eternal rest;
May light perpetual shine upon her. +

Thank you Mel. I can't express how much I adored this woman. I was not a regular student of hers. I was allowed to take her pas de deux class on Friday evenings and I lived for Friday evenings. What I loved about pas class most was that I got to take her barre. I was fortunate to get to dance in her Miami Ballet rehearsals Wednesday, Thursday, Friday nights plus Saturdays and Sundays. I was in heaven in her studio and begged her to let me clean her studio and wash her air conditioner screens just to repay her in a small way. It was at her studio that I first met Victoria Leigh. Martha Mahr will forever remain the most important influence for me in the dance.