THE JOFFREY BALLET MAKES PARIS DEBUT
FOR JEROME ROBBINS TRIBUTE, JUNE 25-27, 2018
Company to present Robbins masterworks Interplay and Glass Pieces
as part of a shared program with New York City Ballet
CHICAGO – June 18, 2018 – For the first time as a Company, The Joffrey Ballet will make its Paris debut at the invitation of Les Étés 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.
This year, the festival will present Hommage à Jérôme Robbins (“Tribute to Jerome Robbins”), a program honoring the 100th anniversary of Jerome Robbins’ birth. Performances for the Joffrey engagement take place June 25-27, when the Company will present two works choreographed by Robbins as part of a shared bill with New York City Ballet. They include: Interplay (first performed by the Joffrey in 2013) and Glass Pieces (which made its Chicago debut during the Company’s Modern Masters winter program in February). Other participating companies scheduled to perform during the festival include Miami City Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet.
“We are honored to join our peers for such an important occasion celebrating the life of Jerome Robbins, a pioneer in the field of dance,” said Joffrey Artistic Director Ashley Wheater. “This is also an important moment for the Joffrey, as we continue to broaden the Company’s national and international profile. There is perhaps no better place to do so than Paris, considered by many to be the birthplace of classical ballet. We are grateful to this year’s festival committee for their generous invitation.”
Founded in 2005, Les Étés de la Danse has established itself as the premier choreographic event of the Parisian summer. Summer performances are rare in Paris, but audiences are not: tourists come from near and far, as do Parisians who enjoy long summer evenings in the city. Each year, Les Étés de la Danse invites extraordinary artists to Paris, where a growing number of spectators discover new and exciting performers from around the world.
More about the Joffrey program
Interplay
Choreography: Jerome Robbins | Music: Morton Gould
An energetic and brightly colored ballet, Interplay conveys the wonderful playfulness and unfettered curiosity of youth. It is often described as one of Robbins’ truly American works, with movement in the same style as his later Broadway choreography for West Side Story.
Glass Pieces
Choreography: Jerome Robbins | Music: Philip Glass
Glass Pieces is a tour de force, set to music by minimalist composer Philip Glass. This electrifying work marries artistry and athleticism to echo the pulse of 1980s metropolitan America and has been hailed by the New York Times as “landmark Robbins.”
About The Joffrey Ballet
Classically trained to the highest standards, The Joffrey Ballet expresses a unique, inclusive perspective on dance, proudly reflecting the diversity of America with its Company, audiences, and repertoire, which includes major story ballets, reconstructions of masterpieces and contemporary works.
The Company’s commitment to accessibility is met through an extensive touring schedule, an innovative and highly effective education program, including the much-lauded Academy of Dance, Official School of The Joffrey Ballet, Community Engagement programs and collaborations with myriad other visual and performing arts organizations.
Founded by visionary teacher Robert Joffrey in 1956, guided by celebrated choreographer Gerald Arpino from 1988 until 2007, The Joffrey Ballet continues to thrive under internationally renowned Artistic Director Ashley Wheater and Executive Director Greg Cameron.
The Joffrey Ballet will open its 2018-19 season at Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University with the return of Swan Lake, in ten performances only, Oct. 17-28, 2018. Christopher Wheeldon’s stunning re-telling of this classic tale returns for the first time since its Chicago Premiere with the Joffrey in 2014. A ballet in four acts, Wheeldon transports one of ballet’s most famous works to the studios of the Paris Opera during the 19th century, the same era Tchaikovsky composed Swan Lake in Moscow and when a young impressionist named Edgar Degas was on the rise in Paris.
For more information on The Joffrey Ballet and its programs, visit joffrey.org. Connect with the Joffrey on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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