Artsource The Center’s Study Guide to the Performing Arts
TRANSFORMATION
ENDURING VALUES
DANCE ARTISTIC PROCESSES
TRADITIONAL
®
CLASSICAL
1. CREATING (Cr)
CONTEMPORARY
2. PERFORMING, PRESENTING, PRODUCING (Pr)
EXPERIMENTAL
3. RESPONDING (Re)
MULTI-MEDIA
4. CONNECTING (Cn)
FREEDOM & OPPRESSION
THE POWER OF NATURE
THE HUMAN FAMILY
Title of Work:
About the Artwork:
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker, a traditional holiday treasure, was inspired by the musical score of Tchaikovsky and based on E.T.A. Hoffman’s delightful story, The Nutcracker and The King of the Mice. The Joffrey Ballet’s production, conceived and directed by Robert Joffrey with special choreography by Gerald Arpino, is an American interpretation emphasizing its international cultural heritage. It was staged by George Verdak and Scott Barnard after the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo’s 1940 production; this itself was a revival by Alexandra Fedorova from the original Petipa/Ivanov production. The story, written in 1851, was rewritten and simplified in 1890 by the Russian choreographer, Marius Petipa, who then presented the script to Tchaikovsky for the score.
Creators: Company: The Joffrey Ballet Director: Robert Joffrey (1930-1988) Choreographer of Waltz of the Snowflakes, Waltz of the Flowers: Gerald Arpino 1923 - 2008 Composer: Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky 1840-1883 Current Artistic Diretor - Ashley C. Wheater (since 2007)
Background Information: It is impossible to present The Joffrey Ballet without focusing on the co-founders, Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino. One of the most highly acclaimed companies in the world, Joffrey conveys a specifically American energy and style. Its purpose is twofold: to revive major historical 20th-century ballets and to present new choreography which draws from American life - mirroring its concerns, social issues, hopes and dreams. The company today is the outgrowth of a vision begun in 1956, when six dancers climbed into a borrowed station wagon to perform 23 one-night stands. On that tour the dancers not only performed, they took turns driving, setting the stage, ironing the costumes and playing the musical instruments. Today, as many as seventy-five people travel with the company including 40 dancers. It tours with up to nine 48-foot semi-trailers containing crates of costumes, props, scenery, ballet shoes (four thousand pairs!), carpentry and electrical equipment and four sets of flooring. Gerald Arpino served as Associate Director until 1988 when he became Artistic Director after Mr. Joffrey’s death. Joffrey was the visionary and Arpino the creative force, choreographing over one-third of the company’s commissioned repertory. In 1974, Dance Magazine presented Mr. Arpino with an award which reads: “His work speaks clearly of the anguish and the joy of being young in America today.”
Creative Process of the Artist or Culture: The Joffrey has a repertory of more than 200 ballets by over 75 choreographers. Dance writer Clive Barnes states, “... a remarkable and unique troupe, in which a taste for the past was wonderfully united with a creativity for the future. The taste came largely from Joffrey, the creativity largely from...Arpino.” The company both preserves and pioneers new territory in dance. Illinois Photo: Herbert Migdoll
“The Joffrey is not about Bob Joffrey or Jerry Arpino. It’s something larger than both of us. We were two guys who responded to the whole picture of America and American dance.” Gerald Arpino