‘’I wanted to dance like Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, and studying ballet was the furthest thing from my mind. But after one tap lesson my teacher asked if I’d ever considered
ballet.’’ Joffrey to an interviewer in 1966
In 1956, he formed the Robert Joffrey Ballet with Mr. Arpino, its chief choreographer. The company made its first tour that year, traveling in a borrowed car and performing 23 one-night stands in 11 states. “I felt there was a need for a small company to tour around the United States,’’ Mr. Joffrey told an interviewer in 1971, adding that he had also intended to “show people what dancing was about.’’
He wanted “to have a company that happened out of America.”
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Rochelle Zide Booth & Gerald Arpino
Joffrey dancers in their private summer residence at Watch Hill provided by Rebekah Harkness.
“I wanted to pick dancers and repertory. 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.’’ -Robert Joffrey on his early thoughts for a company.
Left to right Marie Paquet, Francoise Martinet, Brunilda Ruiz, Nels Jorgensen in Joffrey masterpiece Pas des Deesses 1959.
Clockwise from top: Glen Tetley, Dianne Consoer, Gerald Arpino, Brunilda Ruiz, Robert Joffrey, John Wilson, Beatrice Tompkins.
Examples of early programs from the Robert Joffrey Theater Ballet 1956-1964