Miguel Terekhov passed January 3, 2012 following a long illness. Born August 22, 1928 in Montevideo, Uruguay, to Miguel Terekhov & Antonia Rodriquez, who preceded him in death. Miguel had a distinguished career as a dancer, choreographer, university professor and leader in the Oklahoma arts community. He began his career in dance at age 14 when he joined Col. de Basil's Original Ballet Russe in 1942 while the company was on tour in his native Uruguay. He also was featured as principal dancer in the Teatro Sodre Ballet Company in Montevideo. He later joined the Boris Kniaseff Ballet in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as a principal dancer before becoming a choreographer and leading dancer for a weekly television show in Havana, Cuba. Miguel joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1954, where he performed as a soloist, principal dancer and regisseur of the company until 1958. In 1956, he married Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo ballerina Yvonne Chouteau. Together they founded in 1963 one of the first fully-accredited dance departments in the United States at the University of Oklahoma, Norman. They also founded the Oklahoma City Civic Ballet, precursor to Ballet Oklahoma. Miguel was a beloved teacher and mentor to generations of dance students. Upon his retirement in 1991, he had helped create a dance department ranked in the top three of all dance programs in higher education in the U.S. and was named Professor Emeritus of Dance by the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents. His numerous honors and awards include Outstanding Educators of America, the University of Oklahoma Regents' Award for Superior Teaching, the Standard Oil Award for Outstanding Teaching, Oklahoma Governor's Arts Award, Arts Citation from the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the CORPS de Ballet International Lifetime Achievement Award. Miguel also held offices in the Association of American Dance Companies, the Dance Panel of the Oklahoma Arts Council, the conference on Dance in Higher Education, the American College Dance Festival and the dance panel of the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute. He also had an avid interest in photography, boating, aviation and technology. Miguel was a very loving and generous son, husband, father, grandfather, friend to many and will be greatly missed. He is survived by his wife, Yvonne Chouteau-Terekhov, Oklahoma City, OK; daughter, Elizabeth A. Impallomeni of Oklahoma City, OK; daughter, Christina and her husband Kevin S. Conway of Richardson, TX; grandsons: Sean Conway of Dublin, CA; and Ryan Conway of Bloomington, IN. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to The OU Foundation's Chouteau-Terekhov Scholarship Fund or the Ballet Russes Archive; send to OU School of Dance, 560 Parrington Oval, Room 1000, Norman, OK 73019-0319, Attention: Mary Margaret Holt, Director. A private family ceremony will be held in Oklahoma City, with a public memorial planned for Spring 2012. Smith & Kernke is handling arrangements.
(The Oklahoman, Jan. 8, 2012)