The Joffrey Ballet - Joffrey Ballet

Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino’s uniquely American vision of dance first took form in 1956 with an ensemble of six strong, individual dancers who toured the country on a series of one-night stands with a repertoire of original ballets by their artistic director Robert Joffrey. From the beginning, The Joffrey Ballet brought a new American approach to ballet, setting itself apart from other small touring companies of the time, which were, for the most part, performing reduced versions of the classics.

Joffrey co-founder and current artistic director Gerald Arpino, who was a leading dancer with the company in the early years before becoming its resident choreographer, remembers the company’s debut performance on October 2, 1956 at a 10 a.m. assembly at Frostburg State Teachers College in western Maryland. “We unloaded the station wagon, rosined the stage, set the lights, ironed the costumes, and got everything ready for the performance the next morning.

“The entire program was choreographed by Robert Joffrey, who remained in New York teaching to help pay the dancers’ salaries. In the first ballet, Within Four Walls, the six of us had to sing (songs of Stephen Foster) as well as dance. After the performance, we went to the college cafeteria for breakfast and spent at least two hours talking with the 600 students. We discovered that they had never seen a pair of pointe shoes. It was revealing to us; we were preaching the gospel of dance!”

On January 22, 1957, when The Joffrey Ballet arrived at Chicago’s 8th Street Theatre for its first performance in a major city, now eight dancers strong and with Robert Joffrey joining them for the first time, a snowstorm was in full progress. But it could not dampen the company’s spirits, nor prevent an audience that included critics Claudia Cassidy and Ann Barzel from showering them with applause. It was on the strength of that Chicago performance and the reviews of these two nationally respected critics that The Joffrey was able to secure further bookings and really coalesce as a company. It was the beginning of a journey that has taken the company around the world and has brought it acclaim as one of the leading national and international ballet companies: an American Classic.

Years later, Robert Joffrey would reminisce, “I wanted a company out of my own roots, out of America.” And that is exactly what Joffrey and Arpino created. They created a uniquely American company of dancers for whom they choreographed original and relevant ballets, commissioned works from the finest young choreographers (many of whom were given their first national exposure by The Joffrey), and meticulously reconstructed some of the early masterworks of 20th century repertoire. Most dance historians have acknowledged that these two men set a new standard in ballet, both accessible and meaningful, classically disciplined, and brimming with infectious spirit. They have been pioneers whose innovations and discoveries have influenced many ballet companies across the United States and internationally.

The Joffrey remains a touring company: performing in more than 400 U.S. cities in all 50 states; representing the United States in Afghanistan, Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Denmark, England, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Syria, Taiwan, Israel and Turkey; and engaging audiences with its technical virtuosity, the power of its ballets, and the sheer joy of its dancing. Since establishing itself as The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago in 1995, the Company has carried the Chicago name to Singapore, Eygpt, Israel, Korea, Italy, England, Scotland, Portugal and Turkey; as well as nationally to the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C. (four times), the Los Angeles Music Center (three times), Omaha, Neb., Iowa City, Detroit, Aspen, Minneapolis, Honolulu, Telluride, Colo., Vail, Colo., Orange County, Calif., and throughout the state of Illinois.

Renowned for a remarkable repertory of more than 225 ballets by 85 choreographers, The Joffrey has commissioned the first ballets of such notable American choreographers as Alvin Ailey, Laura Dean, Chicagoan Randy Duncan, Mark Morris, Peter Pucci, Margo Sappington, Anna Sokolow, Edward Stierle, Glen Tetley, and Twyla Tharp; re-introduced a complete program by Kurt Jooss; revived ballets by Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Leonide Massine, Bronislava Nijinska, Vaslav Nijinsky, Jerome Robbins, and Antony Tudor; reconstructed “lost” ballets of Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, including Parade (1917), Le Sacre Du Printemps (1913), and The Three-Cornered Hat (1919); and was the first American company to present the work of Denmark’s Auguste Bournonville. The Joffrey’s repertory encompasses the largest collection of ballets by Ashton, Jooss, and Massine in America, and also includes notable works of August Bournonville, Choo San Goh, Gloria Cantreras, John Cranko, Mikhail Fokine, William Forsythe, Jiri Kylian, Agnes de Mille and Paul Taylor.

With the revival of Jooss’ great anti-war masterpiece, The Green Table (1932), and Robert Joffrey’s creation of the multi-media Astarte in 1967, followed by Gerald Arpino’s anti-nuclear ballet, The Clowns (1968) and Arpino’s rock ballet, Trinity (1970), The Joffrey was catapulted into the forefront of American culture, highlighting one of its signature elements: the incorporation of popular culture, modern technology, and contemporary ideas into its classical foundation, to present ballets for our time. The company has continued that aspect, and, in 1993, premiered America’s first full-evening rock ballet, Billboards, a Gerald Arpino production set to the music of Prince.

On September 7, 1995, Joffrey artistic director Gerald Arpino established The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago to carry on the traditions and legacy of The Joffrey Ballet. The company established repertory seasons at Chicago’s Shubert Theatre and Civic Opera House, and annual engagements of both Billboards, a Gerald Arpino production, and Robert Joffrey’s Nutcracker at the Rosemont Theatre, in 1996 and 1997, while maintaining a national and international touring schedule. In summer of 1997, The Joffrey performed at Ravinia Festival for the first time since establishing its Chicago home, and returned June 17-20, 1998. During a two-week spring engagement, March 4-15, 1998, the Company returned to Chicago’s grand Auditorium Theatre, the Dankmar Adler/Louis Sullivan-designed national landmark which Gerald Arpino calls “one of the greatest stages in the world on which to perform.” Since then, with fall, Nutcracker, and spring seasons, the Auditorium Theatre serves as home to the JBC.

The 40-plus-year vision of a classically based, cutting-edge company and its dynamic traditions are now the treasured legacy of The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. As Gerald Arpino said in announcing the company’s move, “I am committed to Chicago and its people, and I pledge to support and to promote the image of this great city through the work of The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. Chicago is a name we shall carry proudly throughout the world.”

Gerald Arpino, Founder and Artistic Director

Gerald Arpino established The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago in 1995 to carry on the traditions and legacy of The Joffrey Ballet, which he co-founded with Robert Joffrey in 1956 and for which he served as associate director for many years. Upon Joffrey’s death in 1988, Arpino succeeded him as Artistic Director.

A leading dancer with the company in its early years, Arpino choreographed his first works for The Joffrey, Ropes and Partita for Four, in 1961. Shortly thereafter, he became The Joffrey’s resident choreographer and, to date, has created more than one-third of the company’s original repertoire.

The late Walter Terry said, “he introduced a synthesis of torso-oriented modern movement with classical ballet that was a special quality he gave to ballet.” Clive Barnes of the New York Post wrote, “Arpino and his choreography are central to The Joffrey company style…the ideal choreographer to maintain a consistent , creative core…He can send dancers over the stage like rockets and gives them duets like love songs.” The Los Angeles Times’ Martin Bernheimer has pointed out “the breathless fluidity of Arpino’s invention…the bravura of his kinetic designs.” New York Times critic Anna Kisselgoff has described him as “a very important choreographer…I have often seen newcomers to the ballet seduced into loving the entire art form simply because Mr. Arpino’s accessibility seizes their imagination.”

Arpino’s choreography can be seen in such Joffrey signature works as Sea Shadow, Incubus, Viva Vivaldi, Olympics, Nightwings, The Clowns, Trinity, Confetti, Kettentanz, Sacred Grove on Mount Tamalpais, Suite Saint-Saens, Epode, Celebration, Round of Angels, Light Rain and Italian Suite.

Arpino is the first choreographer commissioned to create a ballet to honor the Office of the American Presidency: The Pantages and the Palace Present Two-A-Day. He was the first American commissioned by a city, San Antonio, to do a ballet, Jamboree. His 1986 Birthday Variations was commissioned by Becky D’Angelo of Chicago, as a birthday gift to her husband, Dino D’Angelo. In 1993, Arpino produced America’s first full-evening rock ballet, Billboards, set to the music of Prince. In 1996 he brought together an all-female roster of exciting, young choreographers to produce Legends, a ballet by women and about women. This work was shortly followed by Legends II, another Gerald Arpino production. His output has been so varied that one critic has said, “He’s not a single artist. He must be an alliance.” As one of the recipients of the 1974 Dance Magazine Award, his inscription reads: “To Gerald Arpino – more than any other choreographer, he has recognized the spirit of the times. His work speaks clearly of the anguish and the joy of being young in America today.”

Robert Joffrey, Founder of the Joffrey Ballet

Robert Joffrey was born in Seattle, Washington in 1930 and died in New York City in 1988. He founded the company in 1956–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 to be one of the major international dance companies, a company cited for its virtuosity and its exciting, original repertoire. Mr. Joffrey introduced Alvin Ailey, Laura Dean, Anna Sokolow, and Twyla Tharp to ballet audiences; invited Kurt Jooss and Leonide Massine to revive some of their “lost” masterworks; and assembled the largest number of Frederick Ashton ballets in the United States. 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. His own ballets have always been a company cornerstone and indicate his varied interests, from the classical Pas Des Deesses to the multimedia Astarte, from the romantic Rememberances to the evocative Postcards. Mr. Joffrey was a pioneer in choreographing for television; The Joffrey Ballet inaugurated public television’s “Dance in America” series. 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 at San Antonio. 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 Dancemagazine Award, the Capezio Award, New York City’s Handel Medallion, Club 100’s Distinguished Artist’s Award (L.A. Music Center), Dance Notarion Bureau’s Distinguished Service Award, and an honorary Ph.D. from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington.