An American Original The Joffrey Ballet Turns Fifty
They were upstarts, innovators, and the champions of early 20th century masterworks. A ballet company founded by Americans and fueled by the American dream. Through humble beginnings in a borrowed station wagon they brought ballet to the heartlands and the pulse of American life to the world stage.
For a half century The Joffrey Ballet has been synonymous with dance in this country and its founders, Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino, icons in the ballet world.
This season and next, The Joffrey Ballet celebrates its Golden Anniversary. Revisiting the rich heritage of dance works that helped make the company a national treasure.
Founded in 1956, The Joffrey Ballet began with six dancers, a u-haul trailer, and a modest collection of Robert Joffrey's dance works. Over the next five decades, through numerous ups and downs, Joffrey and Arpino cultivated a new vision of what a ballet company could be and should be. One where cutting edge works from ballet and non-ballet choreographers such as Twyla Tharp, Laura Dean, Alvin Ailey, Jiri Kylian, and William Forsythe, shared the stage with classic works by Sir Frederick Ashton, Leonard Massine and John Cranko, as well as early masterworks of the 20th century culled from Diaghilev's Ballet Russes.
"Up until Joffrey, a mixed bill wasn't really done before," said Christian Holder, a company dancer from 1966-1979. "We didn't do the older works other companies were doing like 'Swan Lake' and 'Sleeping Beauty.' We carved out our own niche."
"There were many great works that would have died on the limb if Bob and I wouldn't have taken them into the company and preserved them," said Arpino. "We were lucky to get such great works because people saw in our company and our dancers a commitment to really want to do those works justice."
As important as the dance works they brought in to the company, equally and if not more important, were the works Joffrey and Arpino created for the company. Ballets like Joffrey's "Astarte" (1967), one of the first multimedia ballets and the first to be set to a Rock n' Roll score, and Arpino's "The Clowns" (1968) and "Trinity" (1970) part of a host of socially relevant ballets that mirrored what was going on with the country at that time.
"There was a very au courant feeling about the company then," said Holder. Joffrey always had his ear to the ground as to what was new and vital. He was a very erudite man with impeccable taste."
As accomplished a choreographer as Joffrey was, he was not a very prolific one. Most of his works were choreographed either before, or shortly after the company was founded. The bulk of the new works generated within the company over the years came from Arpino, who became the company's resident choreographer.
"Arpino's works were trendy, and he incorporated social behavior into them," said Gary Chryst a company member from 1968-1979. "The 1960's and 70's inspired Jerry to use the voice of the youth."
Along with the company's diverse repertory, what connected it to the public, says 1960's company member Margo Sappington, were its performers. Although the company philosophy was one of "all star and no star," Sappington feels that the personalities in the company were what initially drew audiences to the Joffrey.
"Everybody was an individual and we all had our own strengths," said Sappington. "I think that really captivated audiences."
"We were one of the first companies in the ballet boom to take ballet into the suburbs and into colleges," said Holder. The company was very exciting in that it was unpredictable. There were people put together one wouldn't expect to see together, yet it all worked."
Over time the company became less individual-oriented and more focused on the ensemble, constantly changing and adapting to an ever-changing world.
While the company's repertory and dancers have, over the past fifty years, been important in establishing the company's outward identity, it was and still is the vision and leadership of Joffrey and Arpino that drove the company and made it what it is.
Mr. Joffrey
From their first encounter in 1945 in ballet teacher Ivan Novikoff's class in Seattle, Joffrey and Arpino began to develop a bond and a shared passion for dance that would be lifelong.
"I think it was ballet's athleticism in a higher form of style that I liked," said Arpino. "It was beautifully designed on the body and reminded me of the Olympics. It was that dancer/athlete aspect of it that got me."
What also got Arpino was the charismatic Joffrey himself. The pair had a brief romantic relationship that eventually changed into one of friendship and mutual respect.
"Bob's persona was dance," said Arpino. "He lived in terms of dance. He was a fabulous teacher, a consummate classicist, and his style was noble and pure."
"I think he saw himself in the mold [of] Diaghilev," said Chryst of Joffrey. "He was a real entrepreneur in that way."
Joffrey also carried with him a reputation as a brilliant teacher and being meticulous in his approach to choreography.
"He was always well prepared, said Chryst. "He knew what he wanted, and when he was excited about a piece he would really inspire you."
"He put things in perspective," said Holder. "He would give you a background and a wonderful frame of reference on whatever you were working on. He was smitten by the history of the art."
Joffrey was also known as a fervent perfectionist. "Nothing escaped his vision," said Holder. "He would put Vaseline on girl's stray wisps of hair and pick lint off of stage curtains. In the theater everything had to be immaculate."
A stickler for detail and professionalism on and off stage, Joffrey employed a strict dress code for his dancers and had strong views on a dancer's public persona.
"He didn't like the idea of dancers as gypsies," said Noel Mason, a com-pany member from 1963-1967. "He didn't want us to look or act poor - even if we were."
Sappington recalls taking advantage of Joffrey's strict rules to gain access to him. Increasingly, Joffrey's duties as artistic director over the years kept him from the studio and his dancers." I was used to having access to Robert when I was a student and he taught at regional festivals," said Sappington. "When I joined the company I thought he would be teaching company class. Instead I hardly ever saw him. In order to talk to him I would purposely wear something to a rehearsal or class that would break the company's dress code so I could be called into the office and have the opportunity to talk with him. It was calculated on my part but I am glad I did it."
Joffrey also craved the limelight and enjoyed the attention and perks that having a well-known ballet company named after him brought. Perhaps nothing illustrated that more than in 1964 when Joffrey severed his ties with early "Robert Joffrey Ballet" benefactor Rebekah Harkness to start the company anew.
"I remember when the news came down that Rebekah Harkness was going to form the Harkness Ballet and that she had invited Mr. Joffrey to be its director," said Mason. "He had not made a decision to take the job but when we were told that the new company would have several noted guest artists and that we were all invited to be members of the new company, I was elated. When I looked around at my fellow company members, many had tears in their eyes because they knew that Mr. Joffrey would never take that job. It had to be his company with his name attached to it."
Over the years Joffrey's love of the art form continued to lure him back to the stage as a performer. Long after he had stopped dancing, Joffrey was known to surprise his dancers by appearing unannounced onstage with them as an extra in ballets like Folkine's "Petrouchka" or Cranko's "The Taming of the Shrew." Joffrey also surprised his dancers from time to time with little gifts on opening nights and special occasions. Mason even recalls a time when Joffrey served as her protector, when after a performance for President Kennedy, the President expressed an interest in meeting the then 16-year-old Mason, and Joffrey declined to give Kennedy Mason's phone number.
Up until his death of AIDS in 1988, Joffrey was the dominant voice of the company. He ran the company's day-to-day operations and his was the last word.
"He was the glue that held the company together," said Tina LeBlanc, a former Joffrey dancer in the 1980's, now a principal with San Francisco ballet.
Mr. A
It wasn't until after Joffrey's death that Arpino really took the reigns as company leader. An important architect in the company's vision, for much of Arpino's time with The Joffrey, his energies were directed toward his role as resident choreographer. Unlike Joffrey, Arpino was a prolific choreographer turning out dozens of works, many of which are still in the company's current repertory.
"Arpino was the fire in the duo," said LeBlanc.
Known for his abounding energy when working with his dancers, Arpino was a more hands on choreographer and improviser.
"Jerry was more physical and visceral in the way he created works," said Chryst.
"Jerry was able to tap into the zeitgeist of whatever was going on and into our personalities bringing out things that showcased us as individuals," said Holder.
"He would have us learn steps or do things but would never tell us where the piece was headed or what it was about," said Mason. I remember one time he told us to paint our faces white and we were all huddled in the studio and that got me really irritated. This isn't dancing, I remember telling myself. I want an explanation! It turned out to be the ballet "The Clowns."
"I always found the humor in dance and always saw the lighter side of a piece," said Arpino of his choreographic style.
I asked Arpino for his impressions on a few of his and the company's seminal works and how they came about.
"The Clowns" (1968) - "It was a statement on the atomic bomb. I felt the world was becoming devoid of laughter and the view of war was becoming predominant and I wanted to say something about that."
"Reflections" (1971) - "It was a matter of capturing reflecting moments and was a showcase of the dancers' strengths."
"Kettentanz" (1971) - "We came back from Vienna and I was imbued with scenes of ale houses and beer gardens and how people would sway to the music with their beer glasses.
"Billboards" (1993) - "Came out of having a grant to do Ashton's "Cinderella" and that ballet costing too much to mount. In order not to lose the grant, I had this idea of doing a ballet based on the billboards I would see driving in Los Angeles. Prince was staying at board member Patricia Kennedy's house and he had seen the company and wanted to create music for the work."
Known for his often good-natured approach to his dancers, he affectionately calls "his Babies," Arpino "can be extremely hard on you pushing your buttons to get what he wants," says current company member Samuel Pergande. "I remember him really working my partner and when she was not looking, flashing me a wink and a smile to let me know his efforts were all to get her to do it better. He doesn't ride you to belittle you, rather to make you a better dancer. For 'Mr. A' it is not about creating technicians; rather it is about creating artists."
A larger than life character, Arpino was immortalized in 2003 by the actor Malcolm McDowell in the motion picture "The Company," revealing to those outside the company his flair for colorful banter and penchant for one-liners that he daily imparts on his dancers.
"His favorite thing he tells me is 'you have to dance big baby, you have to dance like a giant,'" says current company member Calvin Kitten.
50 Years
"What has amazed me about the company in the past fifty years is that two young Americans, Bob and myself, with nothing but our vision, dedication, and commitment, could make this company a reality," said Arpino.
Over the past fifty years, The Joffrey Ballet has performed in over 400 U.S. cities in all fifty states and to audiences across the globe. They were the first American company to tour the former Soviet Union, and the first to dance at the White House.
In 1995, Arpino moved the company moved from New York to Chicago to begin a new chapter in its illustrious history.
"The move to Chicago was destined," said Arpino. "I would always say to Bob that Chicago is the city I always wanted to be in. The company had such wonderful support here."
For its Golden Anniversary celebration (now through May of 2007), the company will be reviving a number of its most important works including Tharp's "Deuce Coup," Ashton's "The Dream," Cranko's "Romeo and Juliet, as well as several Arpino works and a new commission by choreographer Donald Byrd.
Legacy
"There is definitely a Joffrey dance style," says current company member Heather Aagard. "It is very clean, uniform, and classical, with long lines and an American sensibility."
It is a style that Joffrey and Arpino have imparted to countless dancers in the past fifty years and continues to thrive in the current company and in The Joffrey Ballet School.
"I think the company has always captivated audiences by creating dancers that enjoy what they do and putting forth a larger effort than just hitting the turns and doing the tricks" said Pergande. "It is all about the performance and giving energy to the audience."
Over the years many of The Joffrey Ballet's dancers have gone onto careers as artistic directors, choreographers, and teachers, carrying with them a legacy of hard work, attention to detail, and a uniquely American view of ballet. A view that honors ballet's past but is not bound by it, reflects ballet's present, and has an eye toward its future.
For more on The Joffrey Ballet, visit www.joffrey.com.
Steve Sucato is a former dancer turned writer/critic. He is based in Erie, Pennsylvania and is a frequent contributor to several news-papers and national dance publications.