Difference between revisions of "Robert Joffrey" - New World Encyclopedia
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Of Afghan parentage, Joffrey was born in [[Seattle, Washington]], and originally named Abdulla Jaffa Anver Bey Khan. He was the only child of a loveless marriage between a Pakhtun Afghani father and an Italian mother. His parents owned a restaurant. | Of Afghan parentage, Joffrey was born in [[Seattle, Washington]], and originally named Abdulla Jaffa Anver Bey Khan. He was the only child of a loveless marriage between a Pakhtun Afghani father and an Italian mother. His parents owned a restaurant. | ||
| − | Joffrey began dancing at 9 as a remedy for asthma. As [[Gene Kelly]] and [[Fred Astaire]] were the rave of the day, young Joffrey believed that tap dancing would be his road to fame. Yet, after one tap lesson his teacher asked if he'd ever considered ballet. So, after a spell in Russian character dancing, he went on to train in ballet with Mary Ann Wells, an influential Seattle teacher who would become | + | Joffrey began dancing at 9 as a remedy for asthma. As [[Gene Kelly]] and [[Fred Astaire]] were the rave of the day, young Joffrey believed that tap dancing would be his road to fame. Yet, after one tap lesson his teacher asked if he'd ever considered ballet. So, after a spell in Russian character dancing, he went on to train in ballet with Mary Ann Wells, an influential Seattle teacher who would become one of Joffrey's greatest inspirations. |
As a small, sickly child, with bowed legs and turned in feet, Joffrey had to wear casts on his feet to strengthen his frame while training in ballet. Yet, his shortcomings never hindered him from his dreams of directing his own company. “I remember, when I was an 11-year-old ballet student in Seattle, making up a whole cast for 'Sleeping Beauty,' which I had never seen. Fonteyn, Ulanova and Chauvire were all in my cast. Toscanini was going to conduct,” he said in a New York Times article. | As a small, sickly child, with bowed legs and turned in feet, Joffrey had to wear casts on his feet to strengthen his frame while training in ballet. Yet, his shortcomings never hindered him from his dreams of directing his own company. “I remember, when I was an 11-year-old ballet student in Seattle, making up a whole cast for 'Sleeping Beauty,' which I had never seen. Fonteyn, Ulanova and Chauvire were all in my cast. Toscanini was going to conduct,” he said in a New York Times article. | ||
| − | When he was sixteen, Joffrey met twenty-two-year-old [[Gerald Arpino]], then serving in the [[Coast Guard]]. Arpino moved into the Joffrey home. From then on, the two were inseparable. They | + | When he was sixteen, Joffrey met twenty-two-year-old [[Gerald Arpino]], then serving in the [[Coast Guard]]. Arpino moved into the Joffrey home. From then on, the two were inseparable. They became best friends, artistic collaborators and - eventually - lovers. |
| − | In 1948, Joffrey left for New York, where he studied at the School of American Ballet and with [[Alexandra Fedorova]], | + | In 1948, Joffrey left for New York, where he studied at the School of American Ballet and with [[Alexandra Fedorova]], famous Russian dancer-choreographer. It was in New York that he began teaching ballet, charging 75 cents a lesson in classes at a Brooklyn synagogue and at the Gramercy School of Music and Dance in Manhattan. He made his solo debut in 1949 with the French choreographer Roland Petit and his Ballets de Paris. |
| − | He soon established a reputation as a teacher, serving on the faculties of the American Ballet Theater School and the High School of Performing Arts in the 1950's. Two ballets | + | He soon established a reputation as a gifted teacher, serving on the faculties of the American Ballet Theater School and the High School of Performing Arts in the 1950's. Two ballets Joffrey choreographed for students at the School Performing Arts formed the nucleus of his first group's repertory. From 1957 to 1962, Joffrey was resident choreographer for the New York City Opera. |
| − | His first major ballet, Persephone, was created in 1952. | + | His first major ballet,'' Persephone'', was created in 1952. |
| − | Two years later, he formed his own company with Arpino, naming him chief choreographer. The company premiered Le bal masqué (The Masked Ball, 1954; music by French composer Francis Poulenc) and Pierrot Lunaire (1955; music by Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg). In 1954, Joffrey was invited to set Persephone and his 1954 Pas des Deesses, one of his most popular works, for the Ballet Rambert in London. When the English company took the latter ballet on tour, Joffrey became the first American choreographer whose work was performed in China. | + | Two years later, he formed his own company with Arpino, naming him chief choreographer. The company premiered ''Le bal masqué'' (The Masked Ball, 1954; music by French composer Francis Poulenc) and ''Pierrot Lunaire'' (1955; music by Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg). In 1954, Joffrey was invited to set ''Persephone'' and his 1954 ''Pas des Deesses'', one of his most popular works, for the [[Ballet Rambert]] in London. When the English company took the latter ballet on tour, Joffrey became the first American choreographer whose work was performed in China. |
| − | Joffrey | + | A noted teacher, Joffrey put particular stress on [[ports de bras]], or the carriage of the upper torso, and on body alignment. But, wanting to concentrate on the direction of the company, he decreasingly choreoraphed and taught less and less in the later years. |
| − | A | + | He was an adviser and member of many arts councils and organizations, among them the dance section of the International Theater Institute, where he served as president with Yuri N. Grigorovich, director of the Bolshoi Ballet, from 1975 to his death. He was also a catalyst for the U.S.A. International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi. Joffrey won many honors, including the Dance Magazine Award, in 1964, the Capezio Award, in 1974, and the Handel Medallion of the City of New York, in 1981. |
| − | + | ==The Joffrey Ballet== | |
| − | + | The Robert Joffrey Ballet Company began residence at the New York City Center in 1966. In 1982, it moved its principal activities to Los Angeles, California, and in 1995, it moved to Chicago, Illinois. Noted for its experimental repertoire, the company was called the "Joffrey Ballet of Chicago" after its move, but [has now returned to simply Joffrey Ballet. | |
| − | |||
The Joffrey Ballet Company became popular throughout the United States and abroad. Sometimes criticized for its commercialism, the company made ballet accessible to a large and diverse audience, including people who were not already devotees of the form. | The Joffrey Ballet Company became popular throughout the United States and abroad. Sometimes criticized for its commercialism, the company made ballet accessible to a large and diverse audience, including people who were not already devotees of the form. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Based in New York City, the Joffrey Ballet distinguished itself in a number of ways. It commissioned the work of modern choreographers (for example, Twyla Tharp's Deuce Coupe in 1973), and it revived great ballets of the international repertoire that were neglected by other American companies (for example, work by Tudor, Massine, Nijinsky, and Nijinska, as well as ten ballets by Frederick Ashton and evenings devoted to Diaghilev masterpieces). | ||
| + | |||
| + | Joffrey's other notable works include Gamelan (1962) and Astarte (1967)— a ballet set to rock music with special lighting and motion-picture effects. This was a novel movement, as most ballets were choreographed to classical scores. He is also famous for commissioning the first "crossover" work — ''Deuce Coupe,'' a 1973 work by Twyla Tharp, then known as a modern-dance choreographer. He wanted, he later said, to have a company that happened out of America. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Other milestones in the history of the company include Joffrey's multi-media psychedelic ballet Astarte (music by Crome Syrcus, 1967) and Arpino's rock ballet Trinity (1970). | ||
| + | |||
| + | Joffrey's emphasis on male virtuosity was an attempt to redress the gender imbalance that had developed in ballet, in part as a result of Balanchine's famous dictum that "Ballet is woman." Joffrey's commitment to improving the status of male dancers influenced both his teaching and his and Arpino's choreography. | ||
| + | |||
The Joffrey's repertoire contained no overt homosexuality, but there was a great deal of covert homoeroticismhomoeroticism as a retinue of gorgeous, bare-chested, late adolescent dancers unfailingly delighted the gay male audience. | The Joffrey's repertoire contained no overt homosexuality, but there was a great deal of covert homoeroticismhomoeroticism as a retinue of gorgeous, bare-chested, late adolescent dancers unfailingly delighted the gay male audience. | ||
Although Arpino has repeatedly denied the presence of homoeroticism in his work, his 1966 all-male ballet, Olympics, a tribute to athletics, featured a suggestive pas de deux. | Although Arpino has repeatedly denied the presence of homoeroticism in his work, his 1966 all-male ballet, Olympics, a tribute to athletics, featured a suggestive pas de deux. | ||
| + | |||
During one curious phase, the men's costumes featured a distracting athletic cup, shaped rather like half a large grapefruit. The cup effectively covered the natural shape of the genitals—previously clearly seen, especially under white or light colored tights—but gave the impression of a giant tumor. | During one curious phase, the men's costumes featured a distracting athletic cup, shaped rather like half a large grapefruit. The cup effectively covered the natural shape of the genitals—previously clearly seen, especially under white or light colored tights—but gave the impression of a giant tumor. | ||
| − | + | ||
| + | Arpino became the house choreographer, while Joffrey synthesized his own creative aesthetic with the Diaghilev legacy of nurturing the talents of others. | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | ==Legacy== | ||
| + | |||
| + | The Joffrey also became the first major American company with two home bases when, in its continuous search for financial security, it became the resident dance company at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Music Center of Los Angeles in 1983. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Mr. Joffrey made a point of commissioning dances from new ballet choreographers, among them William Forsythe and James Kudelka, and from modern-dance choreographers who often had no experience or reputation in ballet. The Joffrey was the first major American ballet company to commission a ''crossover'' ballet, ''Deuce Coupe,'' a 1973 work by Twyla Tharp, then known as a modern-dance choreographer, and also acquired new works by Laura Dean, Mark Morris, Mark Haim and Moses Pendleton, a Pilobolus founder. | ||
| + | |||
| + | He was also committed to seeking out new choreographers, and often was not afraid to put the most untried choreographers on a ballet stage for the first time. | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | ==Death== | ||
| + | |||
Joffrey was sexually promiscuous but discreet. His pattern was to have Arpino at home for domestic stability, one principal romantic attachment, and numerous one-night stands. | Joffrey was sexually promiscuous but discreet. His pattern was to have Arpino at home for domestic stability, one principal romantic attachment, and numerous one-night stands. | ||
| − | He died in 1988 of AIDS | + | He died in 1988 of AIDS. |
| + | |||
| + | Joffrey was a reserved, polite man with a passion for detail. At the time of his death, he had created 15 ballets. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Joffrey had been sick since April 1986 with an illness recently diagnosed by his doctor as an enlarged liver, asthma and severe myositis, a disease that causes deterioration of the muscles. ''We are simply saying that he died of liver, renal and respiratory failure,'' Terrie LoCicero, director of media relations at University Hospital, said yesterday. | ||
| + | |||
| + | In 1973, Joffrey fell in love with A. Aladar Marberger, a twenty-six-year-old gay activist and manager of the Fischbach Gallery in Manhattan. In the 1980s both men contracted AIDS. | ||
| + | |||
| + | While Marberger was outspoken about his illness, Joffrey remained silent. He was ashamed and wanted his obituary to say that he died of liver disease and asthma. Arpino agreed to his pleas, but the secret could not be maintained as AIDS took a staggering toll on the dance world in general and on Joffrey's company in particular. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Robert Joffrey died on March 25, 1988. Aladar Marberger died on November 1, 1988. | ||
| − | + | The Joffrey Ballet, now based in Chicago, survives under the direction of Gerald Arpino. | |
| − | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 15:38, 22 November 2007
Robert Joffrey (Dec. 24, 1930 -Mar. 25, 1988) was an American dancer, teacher, producer, and choreographer, known for his highly imaginative modern ballets. Of Afghan parentage, he was born in Seattle, Washington, and originally named Abdulla Jaffa Anver Bey Khan.
Joffrey studied ballet and modern dance in New York City and made his debut in 1949 with the French choreographer Roland Petit and his Ballets de Paris. From 1950 to 1955, he taught at the New York High School for the Performing Arts, where he staged his earliest ballets.
In 1954, he formed his own company, which premiered Le bal masqué (The Masked Ball, 1954; music by French composer Francis Poulenc) and Pierrot Lunaire (1955; music by Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg). Joffrey's other works include Gamelan (1962) and Astarte (1967; to rock music with special lighting and motion-picture effects).
The Robert Joffrey Ballet began residence at the New York City Center in 1966. In 1982, it moved its principal activities to Los Angeles, California, and in 1995, it moved to Chicago, Illinois. Noted for its experimental repertoire, the company was called the "Joffrey Ballet of Chicago" after its move, but [has now returned to simply Joffrey Ballet. Besides Joffrey's {{Credit|works, its repertoire includes many works by Gerald Arpino (Joffrey's long-time co-director and now artistic director emeritus), and ballets commissioned by Joffrey from unproven choreographers, as well as works by such respected choreographers as George Balanchine, Alvin Ailey and Twyla Tharp.
He died in 1988 of AIDS [1]
Biography
Of Afghan parentage, Joffrey was born in Seattle, Washington, and originally named Abdulla Jaffa Anver Bey Khan. He was the only child of a loveless marriage between a Pakhtun Afghani father and an Italian mother. His parents owned a restaurant.
Joffrey began dancing at 9 as a remedy for asthma. As Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire were the rave of the day, young Joffrey believed that tap dancing would be his road to fame. Yet, after one tap lesson his teacher asked if he'd ever considered ballet. So, after a spell in Russian character dancing, he went on to train in ballet with Mary Ann Wells, an influential Seattle teacher who would become one of Joffrey's greatest inspirations.
As a small, sickly child, with bowed legs and turned in feet, Joffrey had to wear casts on his feet to strengthen his frame while training in ballet. Yet, his shortcomings never hindered him from his dreams of directing his own company. “I remember, when I was an 11-year-old ballet student in Seattle, making up a whole cast for 'Sleeping Beauty,' which I had never seen. Fonteyn, Ulanova and Chauvire were all in my cast. Toscanini was going to conduct,” he said in a New York Times article.
When he was sixteen, Joffrey met twenty-two-year-old Gerald Arpino, then serving in the Coast Guard. Arpino moved into the Joffrey home. From then on, the two were inseparable. They became best friends, artistic collaborators and - eventually - lovers.
In 1948, Joffrey left for New York, where he studied at the School of American Ballet and with Alexandra Fedorova, famous Russian dancer-choreographer. It was in New York that he began teaching ballet, charging 75 cents a lesson in classes at a Brooklyn synagogue and at the Gramercy School of Music and Dance in Manhattan. He made his solo debut in 1949 with the French choreographer Roland Petit and his Ballets de Paris.
He soon established a reputation as a gifted teacher, serving on the faculties of the American Ballet Theater School and the High School of Performing Arts in the 1950's. Two ballets Joffrey choreographed for students at the School Performing Arts formed the nucleus of his first group's repertory. From 1957 to 1962, Joffrey was resident choreographer for the New York City Opera.
His first major ballet, Persephone, was created in 1952.
Two years later, he formed his own company with Arpino, naming him chief choreographer. The company premiered Le bal masqué (The Masked Ball, 1954; music by French composer Francis Poulenc) and Pierrot Lunaire (1955; music by Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg). In 1954, Joffrey was invited to set Persephone and his 1954 Pas des Deesses, one of his most popular works, for the Ballet Rambert in London. When the English company took the latter ballet on tour, Joffrey became the first American choreographer whose work was performed in China.
A noted teacher, Joffrey put particular stress on ports de bras, or the carriage of the upper torso, and on body alignment. But, wanting to concentrate on the direction of the company, he decreasingly choreoraphed and taught less and less in the later years.
He was an adviser and member of many arts councils and organizations, among them the dance section of the International Theater Institute, where he served as president with Yuri N. Grigorovich, director of the Bolshoi Ballet, from 1975 to his death. He was also a catalyst for the U.S.A. International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi. Joffrey won many honors, including the Dance Magazine Award, in 1964, the Capezio Award, in 1974, and the Handel Medallion of the City of New York, in 1981.
The Joffrey Ballet
The Robert Joffrey Ballet Company began residence at the New York City Center in 1966. In 1982, it moved its principal activities to Los Angeles, California, and in 1995, it moved to Chicago, Illinois. Noted for its experimental repertoire, the company was called the "Joffrey Ballet of Chicago" after its move, but [has now returned to simply Joffrey Ballet.
The Joffrey Ballet Company became popular throughout the United States and abroad. Sometimes criticized for its commercialism, the company made ballet accessible to a large and diverse audience, including people who were not already devotees of the form.
Based in New York City, the Joffrey Ballet distinguished itself in a number of ways. It commissioned the work of modern choreographers (for example, Twyla Tharp's Deuce Coupe in 1973), and it revived great ballets of the international repertoire that were neglected by other American companies (for example, work by Tudor, Massine, Nijinsky, and Nijinska, as well as ten ballets by Frederick Ashton and evenings devoted to Diaghilev masterpieces).
Joffrey's other notable works include Gamelan (1962) and Astarte (1967)— a ballet set to rock music with special lighting and motion-picture effects. This was a novel movement, as most ballets were choreographed to classical scores. He is also famous for commissioning the first "crossover" work — Deuce Coupe, a 1973 work by Twyla Tharp, then known as a modern-dance choreographer. He wanted, he later said, to have a company that happened out of America.
Other milestones in the history of the company include Joffrey's multi-media psychedelic ballet Astarte (music by Crome Syrcus, 1967) and Arpino's rock ballet Trinity (1970).
Joffrey's emphasis on male virtuosity was an attempt to redress the gender imbalance that had developed in ballet, in part as a result of Balanchine's famous dictum that "Ballet is woman." Joffrey's commitment to improving the status of male dancers influenced both his teaching and his and Arpino's choreography.
The Joffrey's repertoire contained no overt homosexuality, but there was a great deal of covert homoeroticismhomoeroticism as a retinue of gorgeous, bare-chested, late adolescent dancers unfailingly delighted the gay male audience. Although Arpino has repeatedly denied the presence of homoeroticism in his work, his 1966 all-male ballet, Olympics, a tribute to athletics, featured a suggestive pas de deux.
During one curious phase, the men's costumes featured a distracting athletic cup, shaped rather like half a large grapefruit. The cup effectively covered the natural shape of the genitals—previously clearly seen, especially under white or light colored tights—but gave the impression of a giant tumor.
Arpino became the house choreographer, while Joffrey synthesized his own creative aesthetic with the Diaghilev legacy of nurturing the talents of others.
Legacy
The Joffrey also became the first major American company with two home bases when, in its continuous search for financial security, it became the resident dance company at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Music Center of Los Angeles in 1983.
Mr. Joffrey made a point of commissioning dances from new ballet choreographers, among them William Forsythe and James Kudelka, and from modern-dance choreographers who often had no experience or reputation in ballet. The Joffrey was the first major American ballet company to commission a crossover ballet, Deuce Coupe, a 1973 work by Twyla Tharp, then known as a modern-dance choreographer, and also acquired new works by Laura Dean, Mark Morris, Mark Haim and Moses Pendleton, a Pilobolus founder.
He was also committed to seeking out new choreographers, and often was not afraid to put the most untried choreographers on a ballet stage for the first time.
Death
Joffrey was sexually promiscuous but discreet. His pattern was to have Arpino at home for domestic stability, one principal romantic attachment, and numerous one-night stands.
He died in 1988 of AIDS.
Joffrey was a reserved, polite man with a passion for detail. At the time of his death, he had created 15 ballets.
Joffrey had been sick since April 1986 with an illness recently diagnosed by his doctor as an enlarged liver, asthma and severe myositis, a disease that causes deterioration of the muscles. We are simply saying that he died of liver, renal and respiratory failure, Terrie LoCicero, director of media relations at University Hospital, said yesterday.
In 1973, Joffrey fell in love with A. Aladar Marberger, a twenty-six-year-old gay activist and manager of the Fischbach Gallery in Manhattan. In the 1980s both men contracted AIDS.
While Marberger was outspoken about his illness, Joffrey remained silent. He was ashamed and wanted his obituary to say that he died of liver disease and asthma. Arpino agreed to his pleas, but the secret could not be maintained as AIDS took a staggering toll on the dance world in general and on Joffrey's company in particular.
Robert Joffrey died on March 25, 1988. Aladar Marberger died on November 1, 1988.
The Joffrey Ballet, now based in Chicago, survives under the direction of Gerald Arpino.
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