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History of the joffrey

History of The Joffrey Ballet

The Joffrey Ballet has been hailed as “America’s Ballet Company of Firsts.”  The Joffrey Ballet’s long list of “firsts” includes first dance company to perform at the White House at Jacqueline Kennedy’s invitation, first to appear on television, first American company to visit Russia, first classical dance company to go multi-media, first to commission a rock ‘n roll Ballet and first and only dance company to appear on the cover of Time Magazine. 

For more than a half-century, The Joffrey Ballet’s commitment to taking world-class, artistically vibrant work to a broad and varied audience has created a solid foundation that continues to support the company’s unprecedented capacity for achieving important “firsts.”  Today, the Joffrey, which has been hugely successful in its former residencies in New York and Los Angeles, lives permanently in a brilliant new facility, Joffrey Tower, in the heart of America, Chicago, Illinois.  The company’s commitment to accessibility is met through the most extensive touring schedule of any dance company in history, an innovative and highly effective education program and collaborations with myriad other visual and performing arts organizations.

Classically trained to the highest standards, The Joffrey Ballet expresses a unique, inclusive perspective on dance, proudly reflecting the diversity of America with its company, audiences, and repertoire which includes major story ballets, reconstructions of masterpieces and contemporary works.  Founded by visionary teacher Robert Joffrey in 1956, guided by celebrated choreographer Gerald Arpino from 1988 until 2007, The Joffrey Ballet continues to thrive under internationally renowned Artistic Director Ashley C. Wheater who was recruited as a dancer in 1985 by Joffrey and Arpino before returning to lead the company in 2007 after a heralded tenure at San Francisco Ballet.  The Joffrey Ballet has become one of the world's most revered and recognizable arts organizations in America and one of the top ballet companies in the world.  To learn more about The Joffrey Ballet please visit joffrey.org.

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Ashley C. Wheater

Ashley C. Wheater
Artistic Director of The Joffrey Ballet

Born in Scotland and raised in England, Mr. Wheater was trained at the Royal Ballet School. As a young dancer, he was cast in numerous productions at the Royal Opera House, including The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Macmillan’s Anastasia, and Rudolf Nureyev’s Nutcracker. At the age of 13, he worked with Ashton on the world premiere of Benjamin Britten’s Death in Venice, a production in which Wheater performed throughout England and Europe. In addition, he performed Marguerite and Armand with Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn at the London Coliseum.

Mr. Wheater began his professional career with The Royal Ballet and joined London Festival Ballet on the advice of Nureyev, where he danced Romeo & Juliet and The Sleeping Beauty. There he also danced in Swan Lake, Etudes, Sphinx, and many other works. After two years he was promoted to principal dancer. In 1982, he joined The Australian Ballet, and under the direction of Marilyn Rowe, danced a multitude of roles in both classical and contemporary works. He also guested in Western Australia and Asia with Barry Morland, who created several ballets on him.

In 1985 Mr. Wheater joined The Joffrey Ballet, where he worked with Robert Joffrey, dancing in many American works by choreographers such as William Forsythe, Gerald Arpino, Eugene Loring, Mark Morris, and Laura Dean, in addition to performing the lead in numerous Ashton and Cranko works. In 1989 he joined San Francisco Ballet, dancing lead roles in all of the Company’s full-length productions. In addition to performing a vast repertory, Mr. Wheater had many works created on him by choreographers such as Helgi Tomassson, James Kudelka, David Bintley, and Morris, among others. In 1996, Mr. Wheater ended his dancing career after suffering a major neck injury. Mr. Wheater continued to perform principal character roles with the San Francisco Ballet, including the creation of Drosselmeyer in Tomasson’s current production of The Nutcracker, Kitri’s father in Tomasson / Possokhov’s Don Quixote and the father in Balanchine’s Prodigal Son.

After a long and successful career as a principal dancer, Mr. Wheater assumed the role of Ballet Master with San Francisco Ballet in 1996 and was named Assistant to the Artistic Director in 2002. Mr. Wheater rehearsed and coached numerous ballets of San Francisco Ballet’s deep repertoire, works by choreographers from Ashton and MacMillan to Lubovitch and Wheeldon.

In 2007 Mr. Wheater was appointed Artistic Director of The Joffrey Ballet. Since his appointment, he’s been teaching, coaching, and shaping the Company for their role ahead in being able to dance a wide and varied repertoire incorporating the very best of the 20th century and also being able to break new ground in the future.

 

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Gerald Arpino, Founder

Gerald Arpino was born in Staten Island, New York, and died in 2008 in Chicago. He received his early dance training in Seattle by Mary Ann Wells. He co-founded The Joffrey Ballet with Robert Joffrey in 1956 and served as Associate Director for many years. Upon Joffrey's death in 1988, Arpino succeeded him as Artistic Director. In 1995, he moved The Joffrey Ballet to Chicago.

A leading dancer with the company in its early years, Arpino choreographed his first work for The Joffrey, Ropes, in 1961. Shortly thereafter, he became The Joffrey's resident choreographer and to date has created more than one-third of the company's repertoire. His amazingly diverse work ranges from social commentary to pure dance gems. His ballets are in the repertoires of companies around the world.

Arpino is the first choreographer commissioned to create a ballet honoring the Office of the American Presidency: The Pantages and the Palace Present Two-A-Day. He was the first American commissioned to choreograph a ballet for a city, San Antonio, Jamboree. In 1993, Arpino produced America's first full-evening rock ballet, Billboards, set to the music of Prince. In addition, Arpino is the only choreographer to have had four of his ballets performed at the White House.

Arpino served on numerous boards and councils including the national advisory council of the ITI/USA International Ballet Competition and the board of the Dance Notation Bureau. He was a member of the Arts Advisory Committee of the New York International Festival of the Arts. He served as an advisor to the Artists Committee for The Kennedy Center Honors. He was a member of the Board of The Chicago Academy For The Arts. Among many awards and tributes, he held honorary doctorates from The College of Staten Island, City University of New York, and Wagner College. He was a recipient of the 1974 Dance Magazine award and the Vaslav Nijinsky Medal. He was honored twice by the Chicago Tribune as one of the "Chicagoans of the Year" for his important contribution to the arts in Chicago and the world.

 

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Robert Joffrey, Founder

Robert Joffrey was born in Seattle, Washington in 1930 and died in New York City in 1988. In 1956, he founded The Joffrey Ballet-an ensemble of American dancers for whom he choreographed, taught, commissioned original ballets, and reconstructed rare classics. In the process, he built what is now acknowledged as one of the major international dance companies, a company cited for its virtuosity and exciting, original repertoire.

Joffrey discovered and introduced innumerable modern dance choreographers to ballet audiences. He was the first American director to present the work of Denmark's Auguste Bournonville, and he was especially noted for his meticulous recreations of the legendary Diaghilev era ballets. He invited great living ballet choreographers to revive some of their "lost" masterworks and in the process, assembled one the largest and most diverse repertoires in the world. His own ballets indicate his varied interests, from the classical Pas Des Déesses to the multimedia Astarte, the romantic Remembrances to the evocative Postcards.

Joffrey was a master teacher with an eye for talent. Although he gave up a promising career as a dancer to form his company, he maintained his early interest in training gifted students and young professionals through The Joffrey Ballet School, which he established in 1953, and The Joffrey Workshop in San Antonio, founded in 1977. Additionally, he guest taught at festivals around the country.

Among his many dance affiliations, he was co-president with Bolshoi Ballet director Yuri Grigorovich of the International Dance Committee, International Theatre Institute, one of three jurors of Denmark's Hans Christian Andersen Ballet Awards, a member of the National Council of the Arts, and honorary chairman of the American Choreographer Awards. His numerous awards and honors included the Dance Magazine Award, the Capezio Award, New York City's Handel Medallion, Club 100's Distinguished Artist's Award (L.A. Music Center), Dance Notation Bureau's Distinguished Service Award, and an honorary Ph.D. from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. In 2000, he was inducted into The National Dance Museum.

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