Barbara Conti Blumstein

Barbara Conti Blumstein died peacefully on Friday, October 16, 2020 in Metairie, Louisiana, at the age of 74 after a brave battle with kidney disease. She was born in Raleigh, Mississippi, on January 28, 1946 and lived in Jackson, Mississippi, until 1956 when her entire family moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, upon her father’s graduation from Millsaps College. At the age of 9 while still in Jackson, Barbara began pursuing her passion: Ballet. In New Orleans, she studied with Lelia Haller, Gayle Parmelee, and Valerie Smith. At the age of 15, she became a member of the American Guild of Musical Artists and began her professional career dancing with the New Orleans Opera House Association. She was a soloist with the Crescent City Ballet Company, New Orleans Ballet Company, and Ballet de la Novelle Orleans. Other teachers she has studied with include Vincenzo Celli in New York, Tatiana Semenova in Houston, George Zoritch, Suane Dishion, Elissa Minet Fuchs, Royes Fernandez, Theresa Torkanowsky, Harvey Hysell, and Nikita Talin. In addition to dancing in operas, Barbara also danced in the musicals “Bells are Ringing,” Anything Goes,” and “Carousel” at Le Petit Theatre du View Carré, Gallery Circle Theater, and Theater Royale in New Orleans. Once married, she moved the Mississippi Gulf Coast where she operated a ballet school in Bay St. Louis and choreographed several works for the Mississippi Coast Ballet Company. After Hurricane Camille destroyed their home in Waveland, Mississippi, Barbara, her husband John, and their two children, Barbara Ellen and John, moved back to New Orleans. While being a stay-at-home mom, Barbara completed her education with a high school diploma from the American School, Chicago, Illinois, and attended Louisiana State University New Orleans and later Lamar University in Port Arthur, Texas. Her love of ballet continued after the family moved to Port Arthur. Her volunteer work included a ballet program at Lee Elementary School, the Historical Hysterical Follies I and II, and classes in Israeli Folk Dance at Temple Rodef Shalom where she was a member. She was also a judge in the Universal Pageant Systems Preliminaries in the Port Arthur area. Her other activities include working as a data processor, a secretary, a receptionist, and others. Barbara is preceded in death by her daughter Barbara Ellen Blumstein; her mother Dorothy Anderson Irwin; her father, Joseph Salvatore Conti. She is survived by her beloved son John Blumstein (Sabine); her amazing grandsons Levi and Elias; her sisters Charlotte Seidenberg (Jean); Judy Moreno (Mark), and Ann Conti Morcos; nieces Laila Morcos Zissis (Efthimious [Tim]), Dara Rosenzweig; Valerie Keim; Amanda Keim-Morrison (Paul); and nephews David Rosenzweig and Samy Morcos (Stacey). She will be sorely missed by her numerous cousins in Mississippi as well. Barbara was laid to rest on Tuesday, October 20, 2020 in All Saints Mausoleum at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home with a private service. The family wishes to thank the staff at Waldon HealthCare Center for their compassionate care of Barbara in her waning months. The family would also like to thank the physicians and nurses at East Jefferson General Hospital in the Critical Care Unit and Heart of Hospice for their consistent professional treatment during this fragile time in her life.