Thinking of Beth and missing her. She was a force and a light that brightened my soul. We met while working in San Diego where we discovered our mutual affiliation with Yale’s School of Public Health. Beth served as a mentor to me, listening and offering gentle guidance. We often ate lunch together and went to art exhibits after work.  After Beth’s beloved husband passed and she moved to New York, I visited  her. She doted on me like an auntie. We went to the gym, the theater and had meaningful conversations over meals. She loved and grieved deeply. Her heart was so big with endless capacity for cherished friends, family and fur babies. I am a better person because of her. May her light shine in all whose lives she touched. Aaryn

Beth, we miss you so much and think of you daily... Peace...

Mike
May her memories be a blessing. Our thoughts and prayers are with you, Carolyn, and your family. 
Jan and Jeff

Beth was an amazingly generous donor and volunteer for American Ballet Theatre. She knew the company backwards and forwards and often called when she had questions or thought that something we were doing was tarnishing  this amazing Company and its legacy. Not as a complaint but as someone who cared for it as much as we did. One day she called to point out a typo in an email and instantly became my go-to proofreader for any number of public documents. This made her extremely happy. Whenever I had a tough in-office mission, I called Beth. (If the tax letter you received this year from ABT perfectly in order, it's because Beth went over every single one of them.) When there was a question whether we would continue to print our annual Dancer Directory, she asked me how much it cost to produce and when I told her she donated that amount. She had a huge heart and high standards and having her as a friend of the Company and a fan was a privilege.  She will be sorely missed on so many fronts at ABT. Wherever she is I hope she is dancing. 

I met Betsy when we all arrived at Talbot House at Smith College  in the fall of 1969.  She became a good friend, and I spent a couple of most enjoyable Thanksgivings with her family in Great Neck. (It was too far to go home to St. Louis for just a few days.)  She introduced me to New York City – we went to plays, museums, restaurants, and shops, and just walked around.  She visited me in St. Louis one summer, and I have a picture of her “holding up” one leg of the Arch.  When my son got married, she came to Columbia, and we had a great visit as we drove to a nearby town to pick up my daughter’s dress.  The last time I saw Betsy was reunion weekend at Smith in the fall of 2018.  I spent a couple of days with her in New York, and then we took the bus up to Northampton together.  This news has stunned me, and I wish we had stayed in closer touch since reunion.  We will miss you, Betsy.

I met Beth through her brother Skip, who was very kind to start a relationship between us that I will cherish forever.

Beth and I bonded right away through our love for ballet and the art of dance in general. To complete this bond, Beth was what we called “Fairy-God-Mother” to my daughter Daniela, who she watched grow in this art, virtually and in person, day after day. 
Fortunately, last December, Beth got to see Daniela receive her first professional contract, and I know that she was so proud!

Beth and I exchanged weekly and sometimes daily emails about the dance world. We would share everything that we knew was going on, from classes that Beth had watched, to shows everywhere around the United States and the world. We also never let a “dance news” go by without emailing each other. A dancer’s promotion or retirement announcement, a change of direction on a company, sometimes good news, sometimes not so good news. We discussed them all in details. It felt so good to be able to have Beth to share this with, along with my daughter.
Many mornings, I would gratefully wake up to an email about a show that Beth had watched the night before, these would be extremely detailed emails about each show that also included a PDF of the program, pencil marked with more details. By reading it, it made me feel like I was there.

Beth had a kind of blunt honesty that I very much cherish in a relationship. She was tough, strong and independent, and yet, loving and caring. I knew I could trust her!

The picture below was taken in April 2019, the last time we saw Beth in person. We had tea and then we said our “goodbyes”. Beth hugged Daniela and cried. That would have been the last time they hugged. It’s like she knew it.

I will miss you so much, dear Beth! Please keep watching Daniela dance, I know she won’t disappoint you.


I met Betsy (as she was known back then) around 50 years ago when we both arrived as freshmen at Smith College. Consistent with Smith tradition, almost all of us  freshmen who met in Talbot House that year lived together for all four years of college, and strong bonds were formed.  Betsy has been a presence in my life since those teenaged  days, and I can gratefully say that, even though we didn't see each other often in recent years,  she was one of the people in my life whom I know would have done anything for me.  

I am stunned by the news of her death.

It makes me so sad to think that I won't see Beth again when I return home from my quarantine period with family in Delaware.  I met Beth through Bentley, years ago, as a member of the dog-owner network in our neighborhood.  We discovered we were both Smithies and attended some events together.  Beth was an avid supporter of our fledgling Parks Conservancy.  She joined our active gardening group and successfully organized our Grant Applications for our first five years.  Most of all, she was a fun and interesting friend, who will be sorely missed.  My heartfelt condolences to her family.  Please know how much I appreciate your sending me this notice.

I only knew Beth the last four years of her life, yet in that time she impacted my life in more ways than she could have known.

We met by coincidence, but I believe it was God's doing. She was my father's, co-worker's, sister who happened to be a ballet fanatic, despite never having been a ballerina. Being a ballet dancer myself, I first met Beth at one of my performances, the first of many times she would see me dance. When I was 15 years old, I attended a summer program in New York at the American Ballet Theater, and I met Beth again as we went out to see “Giselle,” together. Beth had seen the two-act ballet five times (just that week), yet when the curtain went up, the excitement in her eyes made it seem like it was the first time.

Prior to the performance, we ate dinner at one of her local favorite restaurants that happened to be within walking distance to the theater. We giggled, as the waiter observed suspiciously, like little girls over a celebrity gossip magazine while discussing our favorite dancers and ballet drama. 

Beth would send me full reviews of every rehearsal, show, or demonstration that she would attend in precise detail, making me question why the New York Times never hired her as a reviewer. She was always eager to share, eager to give, and eager to support. 

Despite all the joy, and compassion that flowed within her veins, my favorite thing about Beth was undoubtedly her passion for the arts. In today’s society, it saddens me to think about the fact that opera and ballet are dying when the world needs it most. Beth saw this fact, and she did all she could to make artists feel valued, and remind the world of why art is so important. She inspired me to see the light, and to reach my audience in a new way. I dance for people like Beth, and I will think of her every time I go onstage.

Thank you, Beth, for all that you offered to the world, and for inspiring me.


Beth knew everyone because she cared about everyone. When I arrived in NY to start a new job, Beth was one of the first people I met in the dog park where I ended up meeting most of my friends with whom I didn’t have to talk shop who became my NY family. We started every day together in the heat and in the snow while our dogs romped. Very soon I found myself in her beautiful home chatting away with a changing group of women she gathered for just that: to chat, holding a glass of fine wine while the evening would zoom by with fun and interesting stories from women from all walks. 
That was thirteen years ago. More recently it was Mahjongg, and.Beth was the ever-gracious hostess. She had a multitude of interests, maintained contact and ties with people all around, and kept in touch with me when I was away from New York for six years, inviting me right back into her life on my return to the city. 
The names of family members and other people in her life became familiar and the pictures in her home proved to me how much she cared about the people in her life who will miss her and be left with fond memories to cherish. New York will not be the same to me without my dear friend Beth. 

OBITUARY

Elizabeth Nan Shapiro

November 5, 1951 – March 25, 2020

Riverside-Nassau North Chapels

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