Joffrey Ballet facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Joffrey Ballet |
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| General information | |
| Name | The Joffrey Ballet |
| Year founded | 1956 |
| Founders |
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| Location | Joffrey Tower 10 East Randolph Street, Chicago, IL 60601 |
| Artistic staff | |
| Artistic Director | Ashley Wheater MBE |
| Music Director | Scott Speck, Chicago Philharmonic |
| Other | |
| Official school | The Joffrey Academy of Dance, Official School of The Joffrey Ballet |
The Joffrey Ballet is a famous American dance company and a school in Chicago, Illinois. The Joffrey performs many different ballets, both old and new, during its yearly show season. They perform at the Civic Opera House. One of their most popular shows each year is The Nutcracker.
The company was started in 1956 by two dance pioneers, Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino. The Joffrey Ballet is known for its exciting and new performances. For example, in 1987, they performed Vaslav Nijinsky's The Rite of Spring. They recreated the original dance steps from 1913, which many people thought were lost forever. Many famous choreographers have worked with the Joffrey, including Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp, and George Balanchine.
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The Joffrey Ballet's Journey
From when it started in 1956 until the mid-1960s, Robert Joffrey's and Gerald Arpino's dance company traveled a lot. They toured across the United States and even visited other parts of the world, like the Soviet Union in 1963.
The dance company found its first permanent home in New York City in 1966. Later, in 1982, they also started performing in Los Angeles. In Los Angeles in 1987, they showed a recreated version of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. They performed this ballet many times in the years that followed. The Los Angeles group stopped performing there in 1992. Then, in 1995, the main company moved from New York City to Chicago. It has been based in Chicago ever since.
How the Joffrey Ballet Began
In 1956, most touring dance groups only performed shorter versions of classic ballets. But Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino started something different. They formed a small group of six dancers. This group traveled across the country in a station wagon, pulling a U-Haul trailer. They performed new ballets that Joffrey himself created.
The first six dancers were Arpino, Dianne Consoer, Brunilda Ruiz, Glen Tetley, Beatrice Tompkins, and John Wilson. While Joffrey stayed in New York City to teach ballet and earn money for the dancers, Arpino led the touring group. The group first performed in a big city in Chicago in 1957. The Joffrey Ballet eventually settled in New York City. It was known as the Robert Joffrey Theatre Ballet.
In 1962, a modern dance creator named Alvin Ailey was asked to create a dance for the company. Rebekah Harkness was an important early supporter. She helped the company travel internationally, like to the Soviet Union in 1963. However, in 1964, she and Joffrey decided to go their separate ways.
Finding a Home in New York
Joffrey started fresh, building a new company. It made its first appearance in 1965 as the Joffrey Ballet. After a successful season at the New York City Center in 1966, the company was invited to stay there. Joffrey became the artistic director, and Arpino became the main choreographer.
Arpino's 1970 rock ballet Trinity was very popular. Joffrey also brought back older, famous ballets. These included Kurt Jooss's The Green Table in 1967. They also revived ballets by Ashton, Cranko, Fokine, Nijinsky, and Massine. In 1973, Joffrey asked Twyla Tharp to create her first ballet for the company, called Deuce Coupe. The company was known as City Center Joffrey Ballet until 1977.
Moving to Chicago
From 1977, the company was simply called the Joffrey Ballet. It had a second home in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1992. In 1995, the company left New York City to make Chicago its permanent home.
The first few years in Chicago were tough financially for the company. It almost had to close several times. But over time, more and more people came to see their shows, and the audiences became younger. In 2005, the Joffrey Ballet celebrated 10 years in Chicago. In 2007, they finished a two-year celebration for their 50th anniversary. This included a "River to River" tour of free outdoor shows across Iowa.
Recreating The Rite of Spring
In the fall of 1987, the Joffrey Ballet showed a recreated version of Igor Stravinsky's important ballet The Rite of Spring. This happened in Los Angeles. The original ballet first appeared in 1913 in Paris, France. It was choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky.
Dance experts Millicent Hodson and Kenneth Archer spent 18 years researching the original ballet. They wanted to make sure they could recreate it correctly. They found and remade 80% of the original costumes for the performance. Hodson and Archer were also able to talk with Nijinsky's rehearsal assistant, Marie Rambert, about the original dance steps. This happened before she passed away in 1982.
What the Joffrey Ballet Does
The Joffrey Ballet has 40 dancers. They perform their regular season from September to May at the Civic Opera House in Chicago. They also go on several tours both in the United States and other countries throughout the year. Their shows include both classic and modern dance pieces. Every December, they perform The Nutcracker with the Chicago Philharmonic. Since 2016, the company has performed a version of The Nutcracker created by choreographer Christopher Wheeldon. This version is set during the time of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.
In 2007, Gerald Arpino stopped his daily work with the company. He became the artistic director emeritus until he passed away in 2009. In October 2007, Ashley Wheater became the third artistic director. He was a former Joffrey dancer and had worked for the San Francisco Ballet. In 2019, the Joffrey showed a brand new "story ballet" based on Anna Karenina. This ballet was choreographed by Yuri Possokhov. The Joffrey and The Australian Ballet also asked composer Ilya Demutsky to create a new full-length orchestral music score for it. This was the first time in the Joffrey's history that they had a new full-length score created just for them.
The Joffrey Ballet is located in Joffrey Tower. This building is at 10 East Randolph Street in downtown Chicago. The company travels a lot for performances. It also has an education program called the Joffrey Academy of Dance. This is the official school of The Joffrey Ballet. They also have a Community Engagement program and work with other arts groups. In September 2024, the Joffrey Ballet received a $5 million gift from the Grainger Foundation. This money helps support the education of young ballet dancers. The school, which started in 2010, was renamed Grainger Academy of The Joffrey Ballet.
In 2021, the Joffrey moved its performances from the Auditorium Theatre to the Civic Opera House. They had performed at the Auditorium Theater since 1998. This move was part of a partnership with the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
More to Explore
- Billboards, a Joffrey Ballet show based on the songs of Prince.
See also
In Spanish: Joffrey Ballet para niños
