Joffrey Ballet Receives NEA Art Works Grant

In its first 50 years, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) awarded more than $5 billion in grants to recipients in every state and U.S. jurisdiction, the only arts funder in the nation to do so. The NEA has announced awards totaling more than $27.6 million in its first funding round of fiscal year 2016, including an Art Works award of $30,000 to The Joffrey Ballet for its commission of a new Nutcracker ballet by 2015 Tony Award-winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon.

The Art Works category supports the creation of work and presentation of both new and existing work, lifelong learning in the arts, and public engagement with the arts through 13 arts disciplines or fields.

NEA Chairman Jane Chu said, "The arts are part of our everyday lives - no matter who you are or where you live - they have the power to transform individuals, spark economic vibrancy in communities, and transcend the boundaries across diverse sectors of society. Supporting projects like the one from The Joffrey Ballet offers more opportunities to engage in the arts every day."

Added The Joffrey Ballet's Executive Director Greg Cameron, "As a quintessentially American ballet company - we welcome the vote of confidence and support from the NEA and embrace their commitment to supporting the development of 'creative capacities.' The NEA's grant will directly support our imaginative team of artists led by Christopher Wheeldon."

The Joffrey has commissioned Christopher Wheeldon, whose An American in Paris on Broadway earned him a 2015 Tony Award for Best Choreography, to re-envision a major new Nutcracker to receive its World Premiere here in December 2016. The Joffrey Ballet is currently celebrating the 28th annual, and final, presentation of Robert Joffrey's The Nutcracker in a limited 24-performance engagement at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, 50 E. Congress Parkway, through December 27. For more information on The Joffrey Ballet, please visit www.joffrey.org.