Ballet is an art form steeped in discipline and tradition—a stereotypically tall and slender ballerina floats across the stage in pointe shoes, dancing through a fairy tale accompanied by a classical score. Yet when Robert Joffrey started the Joffrey Ballet in 1956 with cofounder Gerald Arpino, he set out to build a new type of ballet company that broke free of convention. Joffrey opted for dancers of different body types rather than filling his company with cookie-cutter performers. He commissioned original works and brought contemporary choreographers and styles to the stage. Joffrey championed dance in multiple forms, a legacy Joffrey Ballet artistic director Ashley Wheater hopes to continue carrying forward as he celebrates his tenth year in the role.
Since joining the Joffrey as artistic director in 2007, Wheater has worked to revitalize a company recovering from near financial ruin. During the past decade, Wheater has expanded Joffrey’s repertoire, opened up performance opportunities for dancers in and outside of the company, and focused on setting the groundwork for sustaining the Joffrey’s success for years to come.
In the time since Wheater had left the ensemble in 1989, Robert Joffrey had passed away, the company had moved from New York City to Chicago, and Arpino, who first encouraged Wheater to join the Joffrey in 1985, had vacated his role.
He saw two groups of dancers emerge: those working diligently toward improvement, and those coasting.
“For very classically ballet-trained dancers, that’s a stretch,” says Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times dance critic since 1984. “I think it really opened them up to their own potential to do things outside the mainstream.”
Weiss, however, says testing choreographers and new pieces helps the Joffrey maintain its identity as a troupe with diverse dancers and repertoire—”not a cookie-cutter company,” she says—even if they sometimes fall flat.
Wed 10/18-Sun 10/29, dates and times vary Joffrey Ballet, Auditorium Theatre 50 E. Congress 312-341-2310joffrey.org $39-$174
