The Joffrey Ballet: Engaging a Wider Audience

The Joffrey Ballet and Lar Lubovitch's Othello premiered Wednesday! I blogged earlier about the rehearsal, yet still can't wait to see the full performance.



Lar Lubovitch's staging of Othello is dramatic, passionate and anything but typical. It seems like a strange ballet to perform given the current climate -which is exactly what I love about it. Instead of performing an uplifting, lightearted, escapist work, The Joffrey Ballet chose a piece that mirrors the turmoil in society and in many of our personal lives (though not too closely, I'd hope). It is artistic choices like these that truly make The Joffrey Ballet "America's Ballet Company of Firsts." Othello is the sort of ballet that, as cliche as it sounds, has something for everyone - from those who have never experienced professional ballet to those who think they know the extent of The Joffrey Ballet's artistic capabilities.

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My earliest memory concerning dance is watching a ballet at my aunt's house on the tiny TV in her bedroom. More likely than not it was The Joffrey Ballet that I was watchig on WTTW years ago. Still, it boggles my mind that Chicago did not have its own ballet company until 1995. Before then, The Joffrey Ballet split its time between New York and LA.

From the beginning, Joffrey and Arpino wanted a company that came out of their
roots, out of America.

It's fitting, then, that the company made the Midwest its permanent home. It was a defining moment for Chicago in establishingthe city's reputation as more than a wannabe New York. Despite its ties to the city, the company that began touring out of a station wagon continues to tour extensively. Making stops that other companies might pass up, the company recently performed in Des Moines, Iowa. Fabrice Calmels describes the crowd:

They were a wonderfully responsive audience, even giving us a long standing
ovation at the end of the evening.

The Hancher Theater in Des Moines, Iowa. Photo courtesy of Fabrice Calmels.

Perhaps outreach is such an integral part of the company itself because The Joffrey Ballet originally began as a touring company. They educate the next generation of dancers through school programs and through the Academy of Dance, Official School of The Joffrey Ballet. To me, the most important aspect of the company's outreach program might not officially be considered outrech. The Joffrey Ballet literally goes where many other companies do not (artistically, emotionally and geographically). In my mind, this is what sets them apart from other companies and what makes them a true representation of a Midwestern city. From nomadic beginnings to their current state as artistic missionaries, the company has stayed true to its goal: innovation, offstage as well as on.

Othello runs through Oct. 25. Tickets are available here.