Free JOFFREY FOR ALL Celebration At Pritzker Pavilion Features Fan-favorite Performances From Past Productions

Events are starting at 5:30 pm on Sunday, June 25, 2023.

By: May. 30, 2023
Free JOFFREY FOR ALL Celebration At Pritzker Pavilion Features Fan-favorite Performances From Past Productions

Free JOFFREY FOR ALL Celebration At Pritzker Pavilion Features Fan-favorite Performances From Past Productions

The Joffrey Ballet has announced the programming for the first-of-its-kind Joffrey for All Celebration, which will feature performances by Joffrey Company Artists, the Joffrey Academy of Dance, and students from the Joffrey Community Engagement programs. The mixed rep program features a series of fan-favorite dances drawn from past performances, including the show-stopping pas de deux from Anna Karenina, original works from Joffrey choreographers, and the American masterwork Suite Saint-Saëns in honor of the late Joffrey co-founder Gerald Arpino's centennial celebration. The Joffrey Ballet's Joffrey for All Celebration takes place rain or shine in the heart of downtown Chicago in Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park starting at 5:30 pm on Sunday, June 25, 2023.

The Mary B. Galvin Artistic Director Ashley Wheater MBE says, “Since its founding, The Joffrey Ballet has championed bold new works that push at the boundaries of traditional ballet. The Joffrey for All Celebration shares our heart and soul with Chicago by connecting our past with works by emerging choreographers and the next generation of dancers—the artists who represent the future of ballet.”

Joffrey President and CEO Greg Cameron says, “Our mission to create Joffrey for All forms pathways for every person to experience the joy of dance. From expanding our scholarship program to our educational footprint with our new South Loop studio, we are laying the foundation for the future of dance in Chicago and beyond. In this spirit, we hope the Joffrey for All celebration sparks inspiration and reaches new audiences with our commitment to empower every Chicagoan through access to the arts.”

The Joffrey for All celebration offers the opportunity for all of Chicago to revisit or experience for the first time some of the most notable works in Joffrey's canon, showcasing a range of styles captivating to audiences of all ages.

Kicking off the program is the ultramodern colōrem, a bold work by choreographer Chanel DaSilva which received its world premiere in The Joffrey Ballet's 2022-23 season opener Beyond Borders and was met with critical acclaim. colōrem explores the emotional connection to color and its innate ability to inform perspective. Weaving a construct of dynamic acts set to a cinematic, original score by Cristina Spinei, the striking work contrasts passion and love with balance and neutrality in DaSilva's second original collaboration with Joffrey dancers. For the Joffrey for All Celebration, DaSilva incorporates the first and third movements with students from the Joffrey's Community Engagement programs.

The program features Swimmer Pas de Deux by frequent Joffrey choreographer Yuri Possokhov, whose most recent productions with the Joffrey include Don Quixote (2022) and Anna Karenina (2019, 2023). First premiered in 2015, Swimmer is a modern ballet masterpiece set against a backdrop of flowing projections evocative of waves and water, based on the short story by John Cheever.

Highlighting another frequent collaborator are two works by choreographer Nicolas Blanc, titled Convergence and Red Violin Caprices. Convergence features an original score by Philip Glass and was created in collaboration with artist Katrin Schnabl for her art installation EWNS (East, West, North, South). The piece represents these directions through four dancers who are seen as a collective force yet as individual, distinct entities. As the title suggests, one needs the other to trace a route that unifies the world. In addition, Red Violin Caprices was born out of a collaboration with world-renowned violinist Philip Quint, depicting a musician's love letter to a muse.

A certain height of the program will be the Italy pas de deux from Anna Karenina. Described by Wheater as the “crème de la crème” in Anna Karenina, which became the highest-grossing non-Nutcracker production in Joffrey's history earlier this year, the pas de deux depicts Anna and Vronsky's sublime new life in the Italian countryside. Filled with passion, emotion, light, and color, the piece bursts with the highs and lows of human emotion.

The program concludes with a celebration of Joffrey co-founder Gerald Arpino's centennial with his seminal, crowd-pleasing work Suite Saint-Saëns. Presented earlier this season in Beyond Borders, Suite Saint-Saëns weaves classical movement with the late choreographer's signature neo-classical style of speed, energy, and quality. With its lilting score, choreographer Agnes DeMille once described this American masterwork as like “standing in a flight of meteors.”

 

The Joffrey for All Celebration features live music performed by the Lyric Opera Orchestra, conducted by Scott Speck, Music Director of The Joffrey Ballet.



RELATED STORIES - Dance

1
TLab Shares to Present Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensembles IN THE EYE OF A DREAM Photo
TLab Shares to Present Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble's IN THE EYE OF A DREAM

Experience the surreal theater/dance performance of Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble's In the Eye of a Dream at TLab Shares. Running from November 9-19, 2023 at Theaterlab in New York, NY. Don't miss this immersive installation featuring projections by Kathleen Kelley of Proteo Media. Get your tickets now!

2
 Limón Dance Company to Present Womens Stories with World Premiere of I MUST BE CIR Photo
Limón Dance Company to Present Women's Stories with World Premiere of I MUST BE CIRCUMSTANCED

Limón Dance Company will present Women's Stories from Thu-Sat, Dec 7-9, 2023 at 8pm at New York Live Arts.

3
Dallas Black Dance Theatre Hosts Les Twins Highly Anticipated Dance Workshop Ahead Of Beyo Photo
Dallas Black Dance Theatre Hosts Les Twins Highly Anticipated Dance Workshop Ahead Of Beyoncé's Dallas Renaissance Tour Stop

Dallas Black Dance Theatre (DBDT) will host the Dallas stop of the Les Twins dance workshop tour on Wednesday, September 20th at 5:00PM, a day before they perform with Beyoncé at her Dallas performance of the Renaissance World Tour.

4
Dances We Dance Presents 2023 Fall Season, November 1- 4 Photo
Dances We Dance Presents 2023 Fall Season, November 1- 4

Dances We Dance presents its 2023 Fall Season featuring choreography by Francesca Todesco, Rae Ballard, Jim May, Benjamin Cortés, and Mark Bankin. The season includes a reunion performance by former dance partners Francesca Todesco and Benjamin Cortés. The lineup also includes works by Anna Sokolow and guest choreographer Mark Bankin. The season showcases the evolution of American Modern Dance and pays homage to the legacy of Betty Jones and Fritz Ludin, the founders of Dances We Dance.

More Hot Stories For You

Videos