Robert Joffrey News

The Joffrey Ballet's critically-acclaimed reimagined classic, The Nutcracker, by Tony Award-winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, returns to open the holiday season at the historic Auditorium Theatre, in downtown Chicago at 50 East Ida B. Wells Drive, in 29 performances only, November 30-December 29, 2019. This season's production marks the last time The Nutcracker will take place at the Auditorium Theatre since its world premiere in 2016. The Company moves to the Lyric Opera House with the start of the 2020-2021 season.

BroadwayWorld is sad to report that Brunilda Ruiz has died at age 83 of cancer. She is survived by her husband, two daughters,  brother and two sisters, four grandchildren and a great-grandson.

Casting for the third and fourth weeks of American Ballet Theatre's 2019 Spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.

MIREILLE FAVAREL, currently on the artistic staff of the Milwaukee Ballet and former principal dancer of the Milwaukee Ballet will be a member of the faculty for the Brandywine Ballet's Summer Intensive which will be held in West Chester, Pennsylvania from June 24-28, 2019.

VISIONARIES - A TRIPLE BILL is playing at Civic Center Music Hall on April 19 and 20, 2019.

The opening night of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's two-week Return Engagement at the Joyce Theater, NYC was Wednesday 3619; and I was happy to attend. The first-week features works by Ohad Naharin (Director of Batsheva Dance Company, Israel) with DecaDanceChicago which included segments of Naharin's creations, having debuted between 1993 and 2011.

As the centerpiece of its 2018-19 season, The Joffrey Ballet proudly announces the world premiere of Yuri Possokhov's historic reimagining of Leo Tolstoy's classic novel, Anna Karenina, considered the greatest literature ever written. This majestic full-length work is presented in a first-time collaboration between The Joffrey Ballet and the renowned Australian Ballet to be performed in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, 50 E. Congress Parkway, in ten performances only, February 13-24, 2019.

Ashley Wheater, The Mary B. Galvin Artistic Director of The Joffrey Ballet, proudly announces an impressive 2019-2020 season featuring a Chicago premiere from Northern Ballet Artistic Director Cathy Marston, along with a Chicago premiere from Tony Award-winning choreographer and New York City Ballet Resident Choreographer Justin Peck, plus the return of an audience favorite by choreographer Yuri Possokhov, and Christopher Wheeldon's holiday classic The Nutcracker. The Joffrey Ballet begins its 64th season with Marston's modern re-telling of Jane Eyre, October 16-27, 2019, followed by Wheeldon's magical holiday classic The Nutcracker, November 30-December 29, 2019. For its winter engagement, the Joffrey presents a mixed repertory program that includes the Chicago premiere of Peck's acclaimed The Times Are Racing, the Chicago premieres of Mono Lisa and The Sofa by Israeli choreographer Itzik Galili, Wheeldon's Commedia, and Bliss!, a new work from Stephanie Martinez, winner of the Joffrey's 2015 Winning Works choreographic competition, February 12-23, 2020. Closing the season is the return of Possokhov's Don Quixote, April 22- May 3, 2020, which received its world premiere in Chicago in 2011.

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet's bold vision - top global choreographers, distinctive groundbreaking repertoire, and virtuoso dancers - has fostered a jewel of a dance company in the American West.  Now, ASFB celebrates the fourth year of its residency at the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya) with a program of works that celebrates the company's commitment to creating new contemporary dance on Saturday, January 19 at 8:00pm. ASFB will perform Tuplet by Alexander Ekman, Dream Play by Fernando Melo, and 1st Flash from world-renowned Finnish choreographer Jorma Elo.

As the centerpiece of its 2018-19 season, The Joffrey Ballet proudly announces the world premiere of Yuri Possokhov's historic reimagining of Leo Tolstoy's classic novel, Anna Karenina, considered the greatest literature ever written. This majestic full-length work is presented in a first-time collaboration between The Joffrey Ballet and the renowned Australian Ballet to be performed in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, 50 E. Congress Parkway, in ten performances only, February 13-24, 2019.

The Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance, a program within the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts at Wayne State University, is thrilled to kick off our year-long 90 Years of Dance at Wayne celebration with the annual December Dance Concert, December 7 and 8 at Detroit's Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts.  This year's show promises diverse and moving works showcasing highlights of dance through the decades. Dance students have the pleasure of working with a variety of talented artists, including invited guests, esteemed faculty, and talented student choreographers.

The Joffrey Ballet's critically acclaimed reimagined classic, The Nutcracker, by Tony Award-winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, returns to open the holiday season at the historic Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, in downtown Chicago at 50 East Congress Parkway, in 29 performances, December 1-30, 2018. 

Ashley Wheater, The Mary B. Galvin Artistic Director of The Joffrey Ballet, is pleased to announce the addition of seven dancers to the Joffrey roster for the 2018-2019 season:

Joffrey Board Chair Zachary Lazar and President & CEO Greg Cameron are thrilled to welcome former Joffrey dancer John Mark Giragosian to the Joffrey Board of Directors. Giragosian becomes the first former Company-turned-Board member in Joffrey history. Board members serve as the governing body of the Joffrey, providing leadership, overseeing policy and direction, and are responsible for the fiscal accountability of the organization. Mayor Rahm Emanuel serves as the Honorary Chair of the Joffrey's Board.  

Fort Wayne Ballet's Season 62 Opening Weekend Performance will include LIGHT RAIN, PAS DE DEESSES, and BOLERO. The weekend is September 28 and September 29.

The Gerald Arpino Foundation announces Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami's performances of Gerald Arpino's Light Rain and Esferas, part of The Joffrey/Arpino Celebration, today, June 26 and Wednesday, June 27, 2018 at 7:30pm at The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, NYC.

The Joffrey Ballet has received a $5 million endowment gift from the Paul Galvin Memorial Foundation Trust in honor of Mary B. Galvin, a long-time supporter and Board Director of the Joffrey, to establish The Mary B. Galvin Artistic Director position. The gift will be distributed in two installments of $2.5 million over the next two years. Effective immediately, Ashley Wheater will assume the title of The Mary B. Galvin Artistic Director. The Galvin Foundation gift is the largest single endowment gift in Joffrey history, and the first to name a position at the Joffrey.

The Gerald Arpino Foundation announces Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami's performances of Gerald Arpino's Light Rain and Esferas, part of The Joffrey/Arpino Celebration, on Tuesday, June 26 and Wednesday, June 27, 2018 at 7:30pm at The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, NYC.

The Gerald Arpino Foundation announces Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami's performances of Gerald Arpino's Light Rain and Esferas, part of The Joffrey/Arpino Celebration, on Tuesday, June 26 and Wednesday, June 27, 2018 at 7:30pm at The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, NYC.

For the first time as a Company, The Joffrey Ballet will make its Paris debut at the invitation of Les Etes de la Danse ("The Summer of Dance"), a highly-anticipated annual festival that welcomes the world's most prominent dance companies, artists and choreographers to Europe each summer for a month of performances.