Autumn Years Winter 2023/24

Anna participating in Jerome Robbins’ Broadway , 1989, as dancer and collaborator. & Johnson, Cooper Vision and Becton Dickinson. She served as a spokesperson and performer with Adidas USA for International Super Shows worldwide. Her portfolio includes an extensive theatrical performance career.” She was involved in the arts from an early age: ballet and jazz dance and competitive cheer. She belonged to a dance group at Northern Valley High School, where she was inspired by dance and physical education teacher Trudy Schultz. “I decided to go into dance professionally; she was a turning point for me,” Anna says. The daughter of Italian immigrants Rosa and Peter Bruno, she grew up in Haworth and went on to major in dance with an emphasis on psychology at SUNY Brockport. She moved to New

DramaJam Troupe 2022 Hopes, Dreams, & Wishes 4, Grease review.

Severely autistic, her daughter did not speak and did not interact with anyone. Anna and her daughter began 30-hour per-week therapy sessions. Her daughter is now a student at Montclair State University, majoring in anthropology and minoring in Japanese. Anna’s late mother

York City to see if she could “make it there.” In the process, Anna waited tables and was accepted to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She turned her singing talent into work in musicals and did summer stock. She became a member of the East Coast tour of Evita — her first job. She was a dancer (“Anna Bruno” in the International Movie Database listing) in the 1985 movie A Chorus Line directed by Sir Richard Attenborough. One of the skills she developed while making movies is how to do story boards—sketches that help envision each scene in a production. She was in the national tour of Zorba with Anthony Quinn and Lila Kedrova. As a younger woman, Anna drove to California in her Hyundai. “What a perspective you get when you see this country,” she says. She married and was widowed, and in 1995 married Johan Bager, a former ballet dancer. Her perspective on life changed dramatically when their daughter was born. She was soon diagnosed with what then was called Pervasive Developmental Delay.

had been an aide at the Bergen Center for Child Development in Haworth, and her plumber father was a firefighter for 55 years. She feels fortunate to have had two caring and loving parents. “Their hard work and dedication to our community were very influential on my path to

Anna and husband Johan Bager.

help others,” Anna says. The hard work of developing the right setting for the MarbleJam Kids included the work of Suzi Tortora, Ph.D. “Suzi guided the development of the MarbleJam Kids program,” Anna says. Suzi’s professional credits are “Dancing Dialog,” which influenced Anna on the importance of arts therapies. “Arts therapies allow kids ways to express themselves,” Anna says. Anna no longer teaches dance at

Anna rehearsing a King & I musical number in Jerome Robbins’ Broadway .

WINTER 2023/24 I AUTUMN YEARS 31