The Gerald Arpino Foundation
Harriet Ross, Managing Director
Christopher Clinton Conway, Treasurer
Charthel Arthur, Secretary
Cameron Basden
Dermot Burke
James Canfield
Tom Mossbrucker
Dennis Nahat
Dorothy E. Sander
Debra Sander
Trinette Singleton
Adam Sklute
William Whitener
Annamary Zarrell
Joffrey Tower
10 East Randolph Street
Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: 312.386.8985
Fax: 312.739.0119
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 Robert Joffrey, Founder
Robert Joffrey was born in Seattle, Washington in 1930 and died in New York City in 1988. In 1956, he founded The Joffrey Ballet-an ensemble of American dancers for whom he choreographed, taught, commissioned original ballets, and reconstructed rare classics. In the process, he built what is now acknowledged as one of the major international dance companies, a company cited for its virtuosity and exciting, original repertoire.
Joffrey discovered and introduced innumerable modern dance choreographers to ballet audiences. He was the first American director to present the work of Denmark's Auguste Bournonville, and he was especially noted for his meticulous recreations of the legendary Diaghilev era ballets. He invited great living ballet choreographers to revive some of their "lost" masterworks and in the process, assembled one the largest and most diverse repertoires in the world. His own ballets indicate his varied interests, from the classical Pas Des Déesses to the multimedia Astarte, the romantic Remembrances to the evocative Postcards.
Joffrey was a master teacher with an eye for talent. Although he gave up a promising career as a dancer to form his company, he maintained his early interest in training gifted students and young professionals through The Joffrey Ballet School, which he established in 1953, and The Joffrey Workshop in San Antonio, founded in 1977. Additionally, he guest taught at festivals around the country.
Among his many dance affiliations, he was co-president with Bolshoi Ballet director Yuri Grigorovich of the International Dance Committee, International Theatre Institute, one of three jurors of Denmark's Hans Christian Andersen Ballet Awards, a member of the National Council of the Arts, and honorary chairman of the American Choreographer Awards. His numerous awards and honors included the Dance Magazine Award, the Capezio Award, New York City's Handel Medallion, Club 100's Distinguished Artist's Award (L.A. Music Center), Dance Notation Bureau's Distinguished Service Award, and an honorary Ph.D. from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. In 2000, he was inducted into The National Dance Museum.
Gerald Arpino, Founder
Gerald Arpino was born in Staten Island, New York, and died in 2008 in Chicago. He received his early dance training in Seattle by Mary Ann Wells. He co-founded The Joffrey Ballet with Robert Joffrey in 1956 and served as Associate Director for many years. Upon Joffrey's death in 1988, Arpino succeeded him as Artistic Director. In 1995, he moved The Joffrey Ballet to Chicago.
A leading dancer with the company in its early years, Arpino choreographed his first work for The Joffrey, Ropes, in 1961. Shortly thereafter, he became The Joffrey's resident choreographer and to date has created more than one-third of the company's repertoire. His amazingly diverse work ranges from social commentary to pure dance gems. His ballets are in the repertoires of companies around the world.
Arpino is the first choreographer commissioned to create a ballet honoring the Office of the American Presidency: The Pantages and the Palace Present Two-A-Day. He was the first American commissioned to choreograph a ballet for a city, San Antonio, Jamboree. In 1993, Arpino produced America's first full-evening rock ballet, Billboards, set to the music of Prince. In addition, Arpino is the only choreographer to have had four of his ballets performed at the White House.
Arpino served on numerous boards and councils including the national advisory council of the ITI/USA International Ballet Competition and the board of the Dance Notation Bureau. He was a member of the Arts Advisory Committee of the New York International Festival of the Arts. He served as an advisor to the Artists Committee for The Kennedy Center Honors. He was a member of the Board of The Chicago Academy For The Arts. Among many awards and tributes, he held honorary doctorates from The College of Staten Island, City University of New York, and Wagner College. He was a recipient of the 1974 Dance Magazine award and the Vaslav Nijinsky Medal. He was honored twice by the Chicago Tribune as one of the "Chicagoans of the Year" for his important contribution to the arts in Chicago and the world |
