History Quiz: Robert Joffrey
April 12, 2008
Questions:
- In what genre did Joffrey begin his dance training?
- Which ballet marked Joffrey’s first performance on a professional stage?
- With whom did Joffrey form an artistic and domestic partnership that continued throughout his life?
- Where did Joffrey open his first school?
- What was Joffrey the first to do with his company, despite many criticizing him as being commercialized?
- Joffrey was the first American artistic director to present the work of which Danish choreographer?
- Name one of the Diaghilev-era ballet recreations for which Joffrey is noted.
- By 1976, the company was the main showcase for which choreographer’s ballets?
- Which ballet did Joffrey première in 1967, drawing both shock and elation from audience members and critics?
- Since Joffrey’s death in 1988, where has the ballet company taken up residence?
Answers:
- Tap
- A Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo production of Petrouchka
- Gerald Arpino
- Greenwich Village
- He was the first to commission ballets from many contemporary ballet, modern and avant-garde choreographers, particularly Americans.
- August Bournonville
- Nijinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps, Massine’s Parade or Balanchine’s Cotillon
- Kurt Jooss
- Astarte
- The historic Auditorium Theatre in Chicago
Pictured: Robert Joffrey; Credit Herbert Migdoll/Courtesy of Joffrey Ballet Chicago