Gerald Arpino established The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago in 1995 tocarry 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
the artist formerly known as 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.”
Other honors include an honorary doctorate from Wagner College; the
Bravo Award from the San Antonio Performing Arts Association; the American Express Ammy
Award; the Distinguished Achievement Award from the National Organization of
Italian-American Women; a 1989 Tiffany Award from the International Society for Performing
Arts Administrators; an award for outstanding artistic achievement from the Staten Island
Council on the Arts in 1990; an honorary lifetime membership in the Chicago Dance
Coalition; the National Arts Club Citation of Merit; the 1994 Harkness Distinguished
Artist in The Dance at Aldephi University; the University Medallion from Frostburg State
University, Maryland, the site of The Joffrey’s first performance on October 2, 1956 (in
which Arpino danced); the Vaslav Nijinsky Medal in recognition of his reconstruction of
the works of Nijinsky; and the Chicago Academy for the Arts 1996 Distinguished Service
Award for the Arts. In both 1996 and 1997, Arpino was honored by the Chicago Tribune as
one of the “Chicagoans of the year” for his important contributors to the arts
in Chicago. In addition, Arpino is the only choreographer to have had four of his ballets
performed at the White House.
Arpino ballets, sought after worldwide, are in repertoires of the
National Ballet of Canada, Ottawa Ballet, the Vienna State Opera Ballet, and the
Australian, Ohio, Oakland, Princeton, Milwaukee and Columbus ballet companies.
A major spokesman on the arts to government, business and cultural
communities, Arpino serves on the national advisory council of the ITI/USA International
Ballet Competition and is on the boards of the Dance Notation Bureau and Dancers in
Transition. He is an member of the Arts Advisory Committee of the New York International
Festival of the Arts. He was honorary co-chairman for the Dance Library of Israel’s 1989
Award Dinner honoring Agnes de Mille, and he presented the Library’s 1991 Documents of
Dance Award to Stephanie French. In 1991 he participated as a panel member in the National
Italian-American Foundation’s annual Columbus Conference.
Arpino serves as an advisor to the Sportsmedicine Education and
Research Foundation in Los Angeles. He is a member of the National Arts Club, the Artists
Committee for The Kennedy Center Honors and is an advisory board member of the Performing
and Visual Arts Department of Wagner College on Staten Island. He also is a member of the
Board of The Chicago Academy For The Arts. Arpino was born and raised in Staten Island,
New York, and trained in Seattle by Mary Ann Wells.