Olympia’s Bud Johansen, who introduced many to ballet, dies at 87

Bernard “Bud” Johansen, who began at Olympia’s Ballet Northwest in the early 1970s, co-founded a ballet school and was a longtime faculty member at The Evergreen State College, died Monday at Providence St. Peter Hospital.

He was 87, said his wife, Mary, who added that he died just shy of his 88th birthday.

She recalled that that two of them, fittingly, first met during a production of Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker” in Winona, Minnesota.

“He was the Prince and I was the Sugar Plum Fairy,” she told The Olympian, adding that future productions of the Nutcracker would become an “absolutely integral and sustaining part of our life.”

Bud was first introduced to dance when he was 4 and later came to love choreography, she said.

Johansen’s death was announced on the Ballet Northwest Facebook page and on other social media pages by Ken Johnson, who, along with his wife, Josie, have been the artistic directors of Ballet Northwest since 2008. They also run the Johansen Olympia Dance Company, which they acquired from the Johansens the same year. It was previously known as the Johansen School of Ballet.

Johnson described him as a monumental figure in Olympia’s arts community.

“Bud’s legacy lives on through the nurturing and inclusive culture he built, and the positive values he instilled,” Johnson said in his post. “We all have amazing memories of Bud that we hold close to our hearts. The long days in the dance studio full of laughs, sweat, tears, fun, discipline, hard work, friendships, dedication, and life lessons were made possible by Bud’s vision, heart, and passion for dance.”

Johansen was born in south St. Paul, Minnesota on March 31, 1935, and later studied at the Andahazy School of Ballet in St. Paul as well as in New York City, according to the Ballet Northwest website. He worked with several schools and ballet companies in Minnesota, and was the chairman of the ballet department at College of St. Teresa in Winona, the website reads.

He and Mary, who also is from Minnesota, later came west. They moved to Olympia when Bud was offered the chance to build a dance company and teach at The Evergreen State College, where he was on the faculty for 27 years, The Olympian reported when Ballet Northwest turned 50.

The Johansens began at Ballet Northwest in 1972, and turned what had begun as a production company that brought dance performances to town into a full-fledged ballet company and associated school — Johansen School of Ballet.

The couple retired in 2008, but both remained active in the dance world.

Johnson said Bud was still teaching ballet at the dance center up through January of this year, calling it spectacular and a testament to his love of dance and his students.

Linda Robb, who studied under Johansen and later worked for him, remembered him this week as someone with a great sense of humor and who was good with children. He was responsible for bringing a local production of Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker” to the Washington Center for the Performing Arts — first every other year, then annually, she said.

Johnson said Bud was instrumental in creating the Washington Center, which opened in the mid-1980s.

“The Washington Center joins with the Ballet Northwest community in mourning the passing of Bud Johansen,” Center officials said in a post on Facebook. “For more than four decades and together with his wife, Mary, Bud Johansen was a pillar of the dance community in greater South Sound.”

The Johansens were the center’s first Excellence in the Arts recipients for Achievement in the Arts in 2016.

Others shared their thoughts about him on social media.

“I am so thankful for Bud and Mary for bringing such a beautiful dance school to Olympia,” said Kelli Kinney in response to the news about his death. “My daughter follows in my footsteps as the second generation to feel the joy of dance, thanks to Bud and Mary.”

Memorial details are still pending, Mary said. Bud is survived by his wife and five children.