Announcing

To honor the 100th birthday of one of the 20th century’s most influential artists, The Gerald Arpino Foundation announces a multi-year Centennial Celebration of the late choreographer’s life and works. Ballet companies and university dance programs around the country will perform Arpino’s works during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. The culminating Chicago Centennial Celebration performances take place September 23 and 24, 2023 at the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive.

Arpino was a visionary dancer and choreographer who, along with Robert Joffrey, created a ballet company and a body of work that has made a singular and enduring impact on American ballet. Throughout his 50-year career, Arpino created nearly 50 ballets for The Joffrey Ballet. From landmark works like Trinity and Round of Angels to Suite Saint-Saëns and Light Rain, Arpino was a masterful artist and entertainer whose work brought audiences to their feet time and again.

The Foundation is providing ballet companies nationwide with special licensing agreements to broaden and deepen the celebration at their home performance locations during the coming two seasons. The Foundation will offer lectures and workshops on Arpino’s life and work, in conjunction with some companies and universities. Among those participating to date are:

• Ballet Arkansas (Arkansas)
• Ballet Memphis (Tennessee)
• Ballet West (Utah)
• Brigham Young University (Utah)
• Complexions Contemporary Ballet (New York)
• Dance NOW! Miami (Florida)
• Dayton Ballet (Ohio)
• Diablo Ballet (California)
• Eugene Ballet (Oregon)
• Fort Wayne Ballet (Indiana)
• Franklin School for the Performing Arts (Massachusetts)
• Newport Contemporary Ballet (Rhode Island)
• Joffrey Academy of Dance (Illinois)
• The Joffrey Ballet (Illinois)
• Kenneth Walker Dance Project (California)
• Madison Ballet (Wisconsin)
• Oklahoma City Ballet (Oklahoma)
• Universal Ballet Competition (Florida)
• Verb Ballets (Ohio)

Check here for the latest updates. All programming is subject to change.

Arpino Centennial Spotlight:
Hannah Baumgarten and

Diego Salterini

Dance NOW! Miami was founded in 2000 by Artistic Directors Hannah Baumgarten and Diego Salterini. Voted “Best Dance Company” by the Miami New Times in 2022, and in residence at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex and the Miami Beach Bandshell, the company presents several major projects annually, featuring original work from the artistic directors individually and collaboratively. The Masterpiece in Motion series honors the rich legacy of dance through the reconstruction of historic works of ballet and modern dance from the 20th and 21st centuries. Dance NOW! also presents branded, immersive, site-specific performances that take place in museums, galleries and architectural sites.

Dance NOW! Miami Program III takes place May 11 in Lake Worth, May 12 in Fort Lauderdale and May 13 in Aventura. The program includes a restaging of Gerald Arpino’s The Relativity of Icarus, along with a world premiere company work, Gli Altri/The Others. For information, call 305-975-8489 or email info@dancenowmiami.org.

Hannah Baumgarten, a Juilliard graduate, is a Florida Choreographic Fellow. She has danced internationally, and her work has been presented on three continents and in 15 states. She was director of dance at Dillard Center for the Arts in Fort Lauderdale for 10 years, serves as faculty at Miami Arts Charter School and has taught throughout the U.S. and abroad. Diego Salterini, originally from Rome, Italy, moved to the U.S. in 1997 after an illustrious career as lead dancer and assistant choreographer for many popular Italian TV and theatre shows. His choreography has been presented in nine states as well as Europe and Central and South America. His teaching career, spanning almost three decades, includes national and international organizations.

Dance Now Miami in Arpino’s The Relativity of Icarus. Dancers: David Jewett and Anthony Velazquez. Photo credit: Simon Soong

Hannah Baumgarten’s and Diego Salterini’s thoughts and reflections:

What is your history—separately and together with Dance NOW! Miami—with Arpino’s works?
Hannah: As the founders of Dance NOW! Miami, Diego and I always believed in creating an organization that recognized and incorporated various styles of concert dance. Both in the training of our dancers and the work we presented, we welcomed ballet, modern, jazz and contemporary dance styles into our repertory. In the pursuit of this versatility, for our Masterpiece in Motion series, we sought out works that spanned this gambit and have presented the historical works of Isadora Duncan, Doris Humphrey, José Limón, as well as living master choreographers including Michael Uthoff, Tandy Beal, Carolyn Dorfman and Daniels Lewis.

After meeting Cameron Basden while working under her directorship at the Interlochen Summer Dance Camp, we began to investigate whether DNM might perform Gerald Arpino’s work. After getting to know us and the capacity of our dancers, Cameron opened the door to us with the Light Rain pas de deux in 2014. We were thrilled. The work was performed by the company for several years throughout the U.S., and we became the first contemporary dance company to present his ballets.

Since then, we have worked together to curate the presentation of Arpino ballets. Cameron has researched to find the right fit for us, and in 2019 we presented Touch Me. This revival took a bit more work, bringing back the steps, finding and cleaning up the music and building a new costume from images and video. This led us to where we are now, with a complete reconstruction of The Relativity of Icarus. We were excited to bring the ballet back to life, with its powerful choreography, set, costumes and music, especially since it was almost lost to obscurity, with controversy surrounding its content and themes. We feel honored, but also a great sense of responsibility presenting this rarely seen work.

What does it mean to you to have The Relativity of Icarus on your May program as we celebrate Mr. Arpino’s centennial?
Diego: Dance NOW! Miami has a long history of restaging work from master choreographers from the last century, namely, the Arpino works Hannah mentioned, Humphrey’s Ritmo Jondo, Limón’s La Malinche and The Waldstein Sonata and Isadora Duncan’s Ave Maria and The Harp Etude, to name a few. Most of these works, while sometimes new to Miami audiences, had been restaged regularly by larger and smaller companies throughout the years.

Hannah and I decided to start focusing on works that are at risk of extinction, works that for whatever reason have not been in the “circuit” and, because of time passing and lack of proper documentation, must be brought back to life NOW. We want to take advantage of the few remaining living dancers and costume and set designers who had either been part of the creation process or might still have lucid memories of it. Discussing this idea with Cameron, she brought to us The Relativity of Icarus, one of those Arpino works that was at risk of being forgotten. With a lot of forensic investigation, archival research and interviews with original cast members, we can proudly say we are bringing the work to its magnificent glory. We feel this is particularly important in the celebration of Arpino’s centennial, shining a light on a work that, though less known, has an important place in his creative history. Audiences will be astounded.

How would you describe the Arpino style? What are some distinctive elements of his choreography?
Diego: There is no denying the huge influence Arpino and The Joffrey Ballet had on the development of an American style of ballet. His group choreography is always very dynamic, intricate and musical, always surprising and unpredictable. Both men and women are always represented in a very stylized way, both as deeply human characters and somehow superhuman as well.

Hannah: I think one of the most important things that can be attributed to Arpino as a choreographer is his capacity to incorporate a range of movement that was not accepted as part of ballet vocabulary. Yet he seamlessly integrated what was considered off limits for ballet dancers: use of the torso, the floor, contractions, parallel. And musically, he challenged his dancers. The things he did were profoundly innovative and pioneering for their time. I think audiences may take some of this for granted, not realizing he was a risk-taker when they see something that is common now but at the time certainly was not.

How does dancing Arpino ballets prepare a dancer for other types of repertory?
Hannah and Diego: The opportunity to dance masterworks is always beneficial for professionals. Dancers today often have work created on them, or learn work that was created on a similar generation. By being thrust into another century, dancers are charged with maintaining the historical content of the work, but must also find a way to make it alive for today’s audiences. Particularly in the case of Arpino, because his work was so forward-thinking, it can be easier to translate to today’s dancers than other historical pieces, but it requires an endurance that not all dancers have. They come away understanding the importance of clarity of movement leading to a greater body awareness as well as the capacity to push beyond what they imagined their physical and technical limits to be.

Arpino Centennial Spotlight:
Ryan Jolicoeur-Nye

Since its founding in 1972, Oklahoma City Ballet has been the city’s professional ballet company, boasting talented dancers from around the world. As the resident dance company of the Civic Center Music Hall, the company produces four mainstage productions per season in Oklahoma City, in addition to touring across Oklahoma and surrounding states. Oklahoma City Ballet also offers dance classes for all ages and skill levels through The Oklahoma City Ballet Yvonne Chouteau School, as well as multiple community engagement programs to encourage artistry and athleticism in students across the state.

Oklahoma City Ballet performs Gerald Arpino’s Birthday Variations on a program entitled “Shorts,” which also features works by George Balanchine and Twyla Tharp, May 5–7. For information, visit okcballet.org/performance/shorts/.

Ryan Jolicoeur-Nye is a choreographer, arts advocate, teacher, and Oklahoma City Ballet’s seventh artistic director since its founding in 1963. He danced professionally for Eugene Ballet, Ballet Idaho, Kansas City Ballet, plus many guest roles throughout North America before retiring from the stage in 2016. As a choreographer, he has created ballets for Northwest Arkansas Ballet Theatre, Ballet Idaho, Chicago Repertory Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, Moving Arts Dance Festival, Ballet Des Moines, and Oklahoma City Ballet, among others. Jolicoeur-Nye was named “Outstanding Choreographer” at the 2017 Youth American Grand Prix as well as “Best Choreographer” at the World Ballet Art Competition Grand Prix 2019.

Oklahoma City Ballet rehearsing Arpino’s Birthday Variations.
Photo credit: Jana Carson

Ryan Jolicoeur-Nye’s thoughts and reflections:

How do you feel about introducing Arpino to OKCB?
From the work that I am seeing in the studio, the stylized nature of Arpino’s choreography is so beneficial to the dancer. The extension of movement in the arms from the back and how the head is informed by that sense of reaching throughout not only creates a visibly beautiful work, but one that is enriching for the dancers.

What does it mean to you to have OKCB perform Birthday Variations as we celebrate Mr. Arpino’s centennial—both on your own season as well as for the Chicago Centennial Celebration in September?
I think it is always important to provide artists with a spectrum of work, from new and innovative world premieres, to the icons of dance and the pieces that helped shape their history. Birthday Variations represents, for me, a special era in dance that pioneered a generation of artists who pushed the boundaries of classical movement. When the work is passed down firsthand, it is a kind of food for the souls of the artists. It is really an honor to present this to our community as well as represent Oklahoma and our own rich history in dance at the Centennial Celebration.

How would you describe the Arpino style? What are some distinctive elements of his choreography? 
A mixed program for me must be a full plate of choreographic work, something for everyone. The contrast between Twyla Tharp’s Golden Section and Gerald Arpino’s Birthday Variations is mostly dynamic and the many ways classical technique can be used. Birthday Variations is arguably an exaggeration of classical work, using resistance and opposition to create the drawn-out nature of much of the ballet. Golden Section is heavy in its use of momentum and relaxation into the floor. Still using concepts of basic classical training, like pointed feet and turnout, the work is also a departure from many of those elements, often asking the dancer for individuality, interpretation, and soul, more than a specific aesthetic. In all three of the works on the program, the thing that remains consistent is the need for an artist, a very natural human approach to a very human art form.

How do you think dancing Arpino choreography prepares a dancer for other types of repertory?
I feel that performing and rehearsing this type of work is great for an artist’s sense of musicality, dynamic, and nuance. With arms coming from the back, the color in the movement, and the attention to musical details, these qualities can be transferred to many other styles of dance. It’s important for a dancer, in our current time, to be versatile; the Arpino work contributes to that variety by promoting growth for the artist.

Arpino Centennial Spotlight:
Charthel Arthur

Ballet Arkansas presents a vibrant repertory of the classics, masterworks of American dance, and premieres by the world’s most daring dance makers, reaching an audience of more than 40,000 per year. The organization’s programming now reaches all 50 states and 24 countries. Under the visionary leadership of Michael and Catherine Fothergill, Ballet Arkansas’s company of 15 dancers is ranked among the Top 100 Ballet Companies in America by the Dance Data Project. The organization is firmly committed to equity and inclusion and to bringing diverse populations together to experience the power and beauty of dance.

Ballet Arkansas performs the regional premiere of Arpino’s Reflections on a program entitled “Modern Masters” April 21–23. Staging the work is Charthel Arthur Estner, executive director of the Gerald Arpino Foundation.

Charthel Arthur Estner performed with The Joffrey Ballet for 13 years as a principal dancer throughout the U.S., Russia, Canada, London, and Vienna. She created roles and performed in many works, including Arpino’s Viva Vivaldi, Kettentanz, and Trinity, and works by Joffrey, Balanchine, Robbins, DeMille, Tudor, Ailey, and more. She also served as the Joffrey’s ballet master. She and her husband, Robert Estner, established what is now the School of the Grand Rapids Ballet, and she served as artistic director of the ballet company for 10 years. She became the Joffrey’s ballet master in 1998, and she has staged Arpino ballets throughout the U.S. and overseas.

Ballet Arkansas rehearsing Arpino’s Reflections.

Charthel Arthur Estner’s thoughts and reflections: 

What are some highlights of your personal history performing and setting Arpino works?
From the first day I arrived at the Joffrey School in New York City, I and my fellow dancers called Gerald Arpino “Jerry” and Robert Joffrey “Mr. Joffrey.” Jerry was like a big brother pushing us to be better, using our bodies more, moving fuller through space. At first, I was scared of him and I wasn’t a good muse for his choreography. During my early years of ballet training in Pasadena, California with a single teacher, we were expected to do exactly what she asked in rehearsals, no deviations. Jerry’s method of choregraphing was entirely different. He gave you a series of steps and combinations but he liked the dancers to add their personal style. He actually wanted us to try different ways of moving and using our bodies. Then he molded the steps and produced exciting and unique choreography. As I matured as a dancer and artist, I understood his method of choreographing and ended up in most of his early ballets. It was always a challenging and special experience working with Jerry. His was tough love.

What does it mean to you to work on Reflections for Ballet Arkansas as we celebrate Mr. Arpino’s centennial?
When a dancer is in the original cast of a ballet, it is always special to them because they are truly there from its inception. Like a piece of sculpture, the choreography is molded, changed, added to, taken away, and eventually a beautiful piece of art is produced. I think another part of my special feeling for Reflections is that, when it premiered in February 1971, I was less than two months from getting married, a very positive and special time of my life. Also, Jerry picked the exquisite Tchaikovsky music “Variations on a Rococo Theme for Violoncello and Orchestra.” It is always an uplifting experience to dance to or to stage a ballet with wonderful music.

How would you describe the Arpino style? What are some distinctive elements of his choreography? Do you think his style changed at all when he created Reflections?
The distinctive Arpino style consists of some very particular components. The Arpino style always conveys great energy even in a slow pas de deux, which means that the dancer uses every part of their body to the utmost; bend, twist, lean, move across the stage in an instant, jump higher to convey flight and energy. Jerry literally loved movement, very slow and very fast. One thing he didn’t always want more of was pirouettes, although I think his lack of interest occurred more frequently when he got older. Another unique quality in his choreography, especially compared to many currently choreographed ballets, is that he wanted the dancers to look at each other, relate to each other, and enjoy dancing together on stage. This meant a dancer used their face on the stage. Jerry’s all-encompassing style was to entertain the audience, not to educate them. With that said, though, in his early years, a few of his ballets dealt with current events. The Clowns from 1968 and Trinity from 1970 were certainly thought-provoking besides being entertaining.

How does dancing Arpino ballets prepare a dancer for other types of repertory?
His works are, quite simply, very difficult. They are challenging and definitely push the dancer to grow in technique, movement quality, and partnering abilities. As a répétiteur of many of Jerry’s ballets, it gives me such pleasure to see young dancers literally improve before my eyes.

Arpino Centennial Spotlight:
Lauren Jonas

Diablo Ballet is an award-winning, internationally recognized, professional dance company in Walnut Creek, California committed to enriching, inspiring, and educating children and adults through the art of dance. Founded in 1993 to address the absence of a professional ballet company in the region, the company consists of dancers who have performed throughout the United States, Europe, and South America. Diablo Ballet presents exciting dance performances featuring classical and contemporary works, educational and outreach programs, and productions on tour. The company has achieved artistic success capturing enthusiastic public response, critical acclaim, and international recognition.

Diablo Ballet’s 29th Anniversary performance includes Arpino’s Confetti on March 31. Tom Mossbrucker, artistic director of the multifaceted arts organization Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and a board member of the Gerald Arpino Foundation, staged the work.

Diablo Ballet Artistic Director and Co-Founder Lauren Jonas performed with the Milwaukee Ballet, the Oakland Ballet, the Southwest Ballet, and toured the United States with the Moscow Ballet, directed by the Bolshoi Ballet’s Vaslav Gordeyev. She has guest taught for various schools and colleges throughout California and nationally, and she co-created Diablo’s PEEK Outreach Program. She is the 2014 recipient of the Contra Costa Commission for Women Contributing to the Arts, Hall of Fame award and was an honoree at the State Assembly’s Women’s History Month. She has coached all of Diablo Ballet’s repertoire and staged the full-length production of Coppélia in 2022. Jonas is also the co-founder and director of Diablo Ballet School.
Diablo Ballet rehearsing Arpino’s Confetti

Arpino Centennial Spotlight:
Tom Mossbrucker

Newport Contemporary Ballet, previously known as Island Moving Company, has a long history of enriching the cultural fabric of communities throughout Rhode Island, the region, and the world. The company creates and presents relevant, visceral, and engaging dance works by a diverse group of the world’s leading choreographers and collaborating artists. In addition to works created for traditional stages, NCB is widely known for its unique approach to experiential and site-specific performances. NCB also runs The Academy at Newport Contemporary Ballet, a pre-professional school offering adult, youth, and core ballet programs, and provides an arts-integrated, in-school learning program called Dancing Through Boundaries serving 4,500 students across Newport County annually.

Newport Contemporary Ballet performs the pas de deux from Arpino’s Light Rain on a program entitled “Elements” March 16–25. Staging the work is Tom Mossbrucker, artistic director of the multifaceted arts organization Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and a board member of the Gerald Arpino Foundation.

Mossbrucker spent 20 years as a principal dancer with The Joffrey Ballet, performing in more than 70 ballets under the direct coaching of founders Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino. He also performed in masterworks by great 20th century choreographers Sir Fredrick Ashton, George Balanchine, Laura Dean, William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Mark Morris, Paul Taylor, and Twyla Tharp. Prior to his current position, he served for 25 years at the helm of the resident performance troupe, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, excelling as a curator of contemporary-classic ballets. He forged relationships with emerging choreographers, spurring their creativity to complete 40 commissioned, original works.

Tom Mossbrucker’s thoughts and reflections:

What is your personal history performing and setting Arpino works?
I was lucky enough to dance in many Arpino ballets, creating roles in Light Rain, Round of Angels, Jamboree, Two a Day, and Italian Suite and dancing in Trinity, L’Air D’Esprit, Valentine, Sea Shadow, Birthday Variations, Secret Places, and Reflections. He was influential in my development as a dancer. Working with him gave me the confidence to excel in other repertoire. He empowered dancers to dance from the heart and made us feel that our personal artistic choices were valid and exciting. I loved being one of his “babies.”

What does it mean to you to work on the pas de deux from Light Rain for Newport Contemporary Ballet as we celebrate Mr. Arpino’s centennial? 
It feels like a labor of love to revisit Light Rain. I danced the pas de deux hundreds of times. It feels like part of me. Passing it along to a new generation feels meaningful and brings back the exhilarating memories of dancing for Gerry.

How would you describe the Arpino style? What are some distinctive elements of his choreography?
Certainly, the attack is one of the most distinctive elements. And momentum. There is a tremendous physicality that he infused into his work. Dancers literally fly across the stage, covering space like beams of light. He understood stagecraft and showmanship. He knew what would thrill the audience. There was always a dramatic element to the work even if abstract. I related to that. I loved the connection to the audience. I remember feeling free dancing his ballets. It always felt like I was dancing with my body and my spirit. I loved it.

How does dancing Arpino ballets prepare a dancer for other types of repertory?
The dynamics I mentioned translate well to other work. They help dancers become confident in themselves and trusting of their artistic choices. These elements help teach dancers to express themselves and free their inner spirit. He demanded honesty and authenticity from his dancers. He could spot a “fake movement” from a mile away. It had to be real. This is one of the most important qualities a dancer can possess. I am forever grateful to Gerald Arpino for coaxing those qualities out of me!

Arpino Centennial Spotlight:
Steven McMahon

Ballet Memphis was founded in 1986 with the mission to create a ballet company that is reflective of its community and the nation by creating, presenting, and teaching ballet in a way that celebrates the human spirit. The Company is beautifully diverse in mind, body, and soul and seeks to use its art in service to others. The Company has built acclaimed original repertoire that speaks of the cultural significance of the area and has shared it with audiences around the globe and at home, including The Joyce Theater in New York City and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., among others. Ballet Memphis aspires to reveal and celebrate the universality of the human experience through dance and movement.

Ballet Memphis performs Arpino’s Birthday Variations on its program Winter Mix: Love Songs/Love Stories February 24–26 at Playhouse on the Square in Memphis. For information, visit balletmemphis.org/winter-mix.

Steven McMahon joined Ballet Memphis as a dancer in 2004 and has created more than 30 works for the company, including his first full-length ballet, Wizard of Oz, as well as Soul Selects Her Own Society, Confluence, I Am, and Peter Pan. Other new ballets for Ballet Memphis have included Carnival of the Animals, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, and Dracula. His work The Lovely Story of Us was performed in Helsinki, Finland at the International Ballet Competition, and his Being Here with Other People and Confluence were performed at the Spring to Dance Festival in St. Louis. His works also have appeared at Organización Para Las Artes in Guatemala and at other venues around the nation, including The Joyce Theater in New York and the Alabama Dance Festival. His first ballet, What Your Soul Sings, premiered at Ballet Memphis’ Interiorworks. He was a 2016 National Arts Strategies Senior Management Institute fellow as well as a fellow in the 2016 Salzburg Global Forum for Young Cultural Innovators in Salzburg, Austria. Originally from Glasgow, Scotland, he joined the Company after completing his training at The Ailey School in New York City. He retired from the stage in 2016.

Steven McMahon’s thoughts and reflections:
How do you feel about introducing Arpino to Ballet Memphis?
I am very excited to introduce Memphis to the work of Mr. Arpino. Our company has a long history of creating new work, both classical and contemporary. Still, I am very interested in bringing established choreography into our repertoire when I can. It is important that our dancers and audience learn about the rich history of American dance and the master choreographers who helped shape our art form.

What does it mean to you to have Ballet Memphis perform Birthday Variations as we celebrate Mr. Arpino’s centennial?
It is wonderful. It gives me great pride to see our company perform this work as our friends and colleagues in other companies do the same. I love thinking about how Arpino’s legacy and contributions to ballet are alive and well and are being seen by many people across the country.

How would you describe the Arpino style? What are some distinctive elements of his choreography?
The other works on our program are quite contemporary, so it was important for me to find a work that would offer our dancers a different challenge using ballet vocabulary. I love how specific and musical Arpino’s work is. There is an amazing level of detail and complexity in how the steps are performed, but it never looks too busy; it just continues to unfold in the most pleasing ways.

The impetus for the steps comes from the control of the muscles in the back and spine as well as the pelvis. This approach pays dividends for dancers down the line because there is so much physical information they can apply to other pieces in our repertoire. This piece really is like a present; it’s packaged so beautifully, but you know it was made with so much care and thoughtfulness. I think a great dance comes from a beautiful synergy of movement, music, and theatricality. This is one of those dances.

How does dancing Arpino ballets prepare a dancer for other types of repertory?
Even though this is a balletic work, there is definitely a sense of grounded-ness, especially in the way the dancers run in this ballet. I think this helps them play with how they transfer their weight between steps, which directly translates to the other works on the program that need that from-the-ground-up approach.

Arpino Centennial Spotlight:

Cameron Basden

Verb Ballets is an action-oriented company that commissions and makes new dance works, preserves contemporary repertory, and builds community through performances and educational programs. Verb maintains its history of female leadership under the direction of Dr. Margaret Carlson and has sought to promote diversity among its dancers, staff, and board in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and country of origin. The company strives to commission new works while maintaining dance virtuosity and production excellence on par with the historic leading companies of the region.

Verb Ballets performs Arpino’s Celebration on a program taking place February 18 in Cleveland. Staging the work on the company is Cameron Basden, a répétiteur and board member for the Gerald Arpino Foundation. For information, visit verbballets.org/celebrations23/

Basden is the co-founder and artistic/executive director of Miami Dance Hub, created to unify the SoFlo dance commonwealth, grow audiences, promote dance, and provide resources for dance-related endeavors in South Florida. After a performing career with The Joffrey Ballet, she served as the company’s ballet master and co-associate director, then director of dance at Interlochen Center for the Arts. Basden was a muse for Gerald Arpino in the creation of his ballets and danced in a variety of styles by many noted choreographers. She oversaw the filming and staging of the ballets in Save the Last Dance and played herself in Robert Altman’s film The Company. Basden’s television credits include the PBS Dance in America series Billboards, Homage to Diaghilev, and The Search for the Rite of Spring. She serves on the advisory board for DanceNow! Miami and served on the Cultural Arts Committee for the World OutGames Miami 2017. She is the dance writer for miamiartzine and Artburst Miami.
Verb Ballets dancers with Cameron Basden
Cameron Basden’s thoughts and reflections:

What is your personal history performing Arpino works?
In 1979, I was called off of a Joffrey II tour to join the main company in Houston, Texas. The company had just traveled to Mexico, and many dancers were unable to perform because of stomach issues, so they needed a dancer to step in—and that was me. The first ballet I ever danced as a member of the main company was Arpino’s ballet Suite Saint-Saëns. I did a different role every night of the week depending on who was out. So right off the bat, I had a big dose of Arpino’s choreography.

During my years dancing the Joffrey’s magnificent repertory, Arpino ballets always held a very special place in my heart. Not only were they fun and fulfilling to dance, I had a rather unique choreographer/dancer relationship with Arpino and spent many hours in the studio with him to workshop material that later became ballets—especially his ballets of the ’80s. He called our time together “playing,” though it could be four or five hours a day!

As a young dancer in New York, I felt it was such a privilege and honor to spend those hours with him. During that time, I learned to understand what Arpino wanted—his movement quality, the energy and fast footwork that he loved, the speed. He would create the movement, the vocabulary, and style, then our ballet master Scott Barnard would create patterns and musicality. It was such fun—and ballets such as Light Rain, Birthday Variations, Italian Suite, Celebration, and material used in other works were all workshopped there.

Dancing and seeing multiple casts perform the ballets gave me good insight into his ballets and the necessary movement quality. Being with Arpino, I learned to understand the various versions he created for different individual dancers, though I always go back to the original ballet when I’m staging it.

Now, I try to remember what he said to me when I worked with him, the motivation, the quality, to pass on that information to the next generation of dancers. I’ve worked with companies and universities all across the U.S. that are discovering his works, and I hear so often, “Why didn’t we do this ballet before?” I think the ballets are timeless and such an inspiration for both dancers and audiences.

What does it mean to you to work on Celebration for Verb Ballets as we celebrate Mr. Arpino’s centennial?
Of all the ballets we worked on together, Celebration holds a particularly special spot because it was the very first ballet I worked with Arpino on creating. I also had a wonderful partner, Glenn White. So to be working on this ballet with the lovely Verb dancers is quite a special experience.

The Joffrey last did Celebration in 2005 to open their 50th Anniversary Season in Chicago, and no company has done it since. So not only is Verb the first ballet company to perform Celebration outside of the Joffrey, but to “celebrate” the Arpino centennial with this ballet seems the most appropriate way to honor Arpino and celebrate Verb Ballets. Also, Celebration is very difficult, fast, and dynamic—and Verb is doing a wonderful job!
Verb Ballets rehearsing Arpino’s Celebration

How would you describe the Arpino style? What are some distinctive elements of his choreography?
In the ’60s and ’70s you were either a ballet dancer or a modern dancer; dancers didn’t “do it all” the way they do today. Arpino, in a way, was ahead of his time. He loved classical ballet, the use of the feet and legs, clean, clear technique, extensions—but he also loved modern dance and the way the dancers used the floor, the twist of their backs, the way they ate space. In his choreography, Arpino blended the two. He wanted you to move with energy, to use the sides of the body and the back, and he liked fast footwork. His dancers could cover space; each step moved. He also liked your legs and arms really low or really high, a rather streamlined look. His partnering was difficult; the men had to be strong to make everything look effortless, lifting that covered space and leans and off balances.

As a choreographer, he would say you never left the stage—everything had to continue beyond the wings. His ballets ranged from the most classical to very contemporary and often were a comment on social issues of the time. He loved dancers flying across the stage at rocket speeds, and, by contrast, he would spend hours on the way a leg moved or where your focus was when you walked. He always said, in a duet, “if you don’t know where to look, look at each other.” One of his favorite words that anyone who worked with him knows is “Zah!”

How does dancing Arpino ballets prepare a dancer for other types of repertory?
At the Joffrey, we danced Arpino rep so often, we didn’t realize how integral it was to dancing in other ballets—the sense of movement, the partnering, the speed. Since becoming a répétiteur, I see how the dancers change after having worked on an Arpino ballet.

First and foremost, they’re usually sore from using the back and the side of the body in a more extreme way. Dancers learn to use the floor to move quickly and use space in each and every step. Running and using the legs to maximum capacity is a benefit we don’t realize happens—but it does. One other aspect is being true to the choreographer’s vision and making each ballet, Arpino or otherwise, look unique to itself. Arpino’s choreography has certain expectations that make it uniquely Arpino, as do most choreographers. I think we learned that at the Joffrey, and it’s a vital element of performance that keeps dancers and audiences invigorated and interested.

Arpino Centennial Spotlight
Shayla Bott

The Brigham Young University Department of Dance integrates body, mind, and spirit through performance, choreography, teaching, and scholarship. This mission aligns with the University’s goal to assist individuals in their quest for perfection and eternal life. Brigham Young University is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Dance. One of the largest academic dance programs in the nation, BYU’s Department of Dance provides a broad base for professional training in both the classroom and the studio. Opportunities include highly mentored student and faculty collaborations, on-campus performances, community outreach, study abroad, international touring, and more.

In March 2023, BYU presents an all-Arpino performance that includes three works: Birthday Variations, Reflections, and Viva Vivaldi. This performance is part of BYU’s annual concert featuring its top-tier ballet company.

Shayla Bott is an associate professor of ballet, artistic director of BYU Theatre Ballet, ballet area coordinator, and associate chair of the Department of Dance. She earned a BFA in ballet performance and an MFA in ballet with a focus on music, choreography, and pedagogy from the University of Utah. After retiring from a professional career with Utah Metropolitan Ballet, she has continued to choreograph and teach in professional and academic venues. Her creative work has received multiple awards. She is certified in STOTT Pilates Matwork and Reformer, and her work includes a rehabilitation-based focus to work with special populations. Current assignments include teaching Kinesiology for Dancers and conducting research to create safer training protocols for ballet dancers by fusing Pilates-based correctives with a strong focus in fascial connectivity and health into ballet technique courses. She has also successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 7 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.

Arpino’s Reflections by Brigham Young University Ballet dancers, Sophie Kunzelman and Ryan Hatch. Photo courtesy of BYU.

Shayla Bott’s thoughts and reflections:

What is your personal history performing Arpino works?
I was choreographing on Ballet Arkansas and then-Artistic Director Michael Bearden introduced me to Birthday Variations, which the company was rehearsing. When I was introduced to Cameron Basden, Birthday Variations was the first ballet my co-director and I requested. It is such a gorgeous ballet and added so much to our repertoire.

As I learned more about Arpino’s works, I was blown away that he was not as well-known as George Balanchine! I fell in love with his works right away, but the more I watch them, the more depth I see in them. His works are timeless. They have the ability to help dancers find artistry and musicality through their technical studies and classroom steps. This makes them accessible to students and professionals alike, but the end result is always magic.

What does it mean to you to have BYU perform the three works on your program, as we celebrate Mr. Arpino’s centennial?
It is exciting for us to do Arpino’s works for two reasons: First, the ballets themselves are incredible. We can literally see our students become more mature in their artistry and in their partnering and technical development week after week as we rehearse until we perform. As a university program, we believe that the technical and artistic challenges we provide for our students through the repertory we select to rehearse and perform is an outgrowth of their education. It is of utmost importance to us that we are process-oriented but that we still have an excellent product onstage. All of Mr. Arpino’s works that we have performed have done just this for us. As faculty, we frequently comment that the dancers look completely different from the time we start learning an Arpino work to the time it is performed onstage.

The second reason we love to do Arpino’s works is the chance for our students to get the incredible coaching that répétiteur Cameron Basden provides for them. She meets our students where they are and supports their growth through supportive but rigorous coaching. She is tireless in demanding what is necessary for the students to perform the works, and she always succeeds in pulling out of them more than they thought possible.

How would you describe the Arpino style? What are some distinctive elements of his choreography?
It is hard to comment on the Arpino style in a brief sentence, but if I could say anything about Arpino’s works, it’s that he has taken pure classical ballet and made classroom steps utterly dance-able. The off-centeredness, over-exaggeration of the port de bras, and the incredible musicality make classroom steps (and some non-classroom steps of course) interesting to dance and interesting to watch. The partnering, patterns, and spacing are unique but not overly so as to make his works overly cerebral. When you see an Arpino work, you feel something. And when they are performed well, the seamless work and performance casts a spell that isn’t broken until the last refrain is heard.

How does dancing Arpino ballets prepare a dancer for other types of repertory?
Because of the purity of what is expected of dancers in an Arpino work, the partnering skills, musicality, and attention to detail are completely transferrable to other ballets. There are no specialized techniques or shapes that are not easily pulled back into the confines of classical ballet when needed. Performing an Arpino work teaches the dancers how to emote with the whole body through the technique and artistry, rather than by overly demonstrative port de bras and facial expressions as is sometimes seen in story ballets.

Arpino Centennial Spotlight:

Suzanne Lopez

Suzanne Lopez, Rehearsal Director/Coach

The Joffrey Ballet celebrated 65 years of artistic excellence in 2021. Classically trained to the highest standards, the Joffrey expresses an inclusive perspective on dance that reflects the diversity of America through its Company Artists, extensive repertoire, Academy, and Community Engagement programs. Considered one of the premier companies performing today, the Joffrey plays a vital role in the dance community as one of the largest dance companies and dance education providers in Chicago and the greater Midwest region.

The Joffrey opens its 2022–23 season October 12–23 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago with “Beyond Borders,” a mixed program that celebrates the company’s maverick legacy with works by artists of the Joffrey’s past and present, including Suite Saint-Saëns by Co-Founder Gerald Arpino, along with choreographers Liam Scarlett and Chanel DaSilva.

Suzanne Lopez was asked to join The Joffrey Ballet in 1991 after a year with the Joffrey II Dancers. She retired in 2010 after a long and outstanding career with the company. She danced principal roles in ballets by such choreographers as Robert Joffrey, Gerald Arpino, George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Alonzo King, John Cranko, José Limón, Antony Tudor, Twyla Tharp, Lar Lubovitch, and Sir Frederick Ashton. Some of her favorite roles to perform include the title roles in Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet and Ashton’s Cinderella, as well as the Sugarplum Fairy in the Joffrey’s The Nutcracker. She was also featured in world premieres by Edwaard Liang, Donald Byrd, Jessica Lang, and Margo Sappington, among others. Lopez had a featured role in the movie The Company, directed by Robert Altman. She was thrilled to return to the Joffrey Ballet as a rehearsal director in 2016, where she has had the privilege to work on new creations with master choreographers, such as John Neumeier, Christopher Wheeldon, and Yuri Possokhov. She has also been a guest teacher, répétiteur, and coach at various schools and companies across the world.
Arpino’s Suite Saint Saëns with Joffrey Ballet dancers Valeria Chaykina and Hyuma Kiyosawa. Photo Cheryl Mann.

Suzanne Lopez’s thoughts and reflections:

What is your personal history performing Arpino works?
When I was a dancer with The Joffrey Ballet, I think the bulk of what I danced was Arpino works. His ballets never really left the rep. Suite Saint-Saëns is one of the first ballets I learned in the company, and as a new dancer, you had to pretty much just pick up the choreography in the back of the room. There weren’t teaching rehearsals. Now that I’m staging this ballet, it’s really interesting to have to teach all 20 roles. And as is typical with an Arpino work, there are times that all 20 are doing different things. It’s slightly daunting, but a lot of fun.

I’ve staged various Arpino works for the company and for the Joffrey Academy of Dance throughout the years. This is the first time I have staged this particular ballet in its entirety, and I really wanted to get it right. I have been combing through old videos and trying to decide what version I feel is right for the company now. I often start with the original choreography but know that I have options if something isn’t working for a dancer. It is how Mr. Arpino worked, and I feel strongly about maintaining that flexibility to make each dancer look and feel their best.

What does it mean to you to present Suite Saint-Saëns as we celebrate Mr. Arpino’s centennial?
When we started rehearsing this ballet, I told the dancers it was really important to me that every member of the company be involved. This ballet is their history and their legacy, and it’s important for them to understand what that means. I think it’s especially meaningful for the Joffrey to perform Suite Saint-Saëns because, in my opinion, it is the ballet that epitomizes the Joffrey system of “All Star/No Star.”  In this ballet, everyone is a star, and everyone has a moment to shine. It’s an honor for me to pass this ballet on to them, and it’s a thrill to watch. All of these ballets started at the Joffrey, and we are excited to participate in the Arpino Centennial Celebration next year and welcome all of the companies to our home town of Chicago.

How would you describe the Arpino style? What are some distinctive elements of his choreography?
Mr. Arpino’s style has a completely unique energy to it, compared to anything else I’ve ever danced. The line of arabesque is extreme. The footwork is quick. The movement always starts with the torso. And the dancers have to travel. There’s no time to stop and think about what you are doing, which is why I think there is a youthful quality to his choreography. There are many times in Suite Saint-Saëns when a dancer runs across the stage, but the energy has to be just right, and they absolutely cannot slow down as they enter the wing! “Hit the wall, babies!”

How does dancing Arpino ballets prepare a dancer for other types of repertory?
Mr. Arpino used to say that if a dancer can do petit allegro (a series of small and fast jumps), they can do anything, and I think he was right. Anyone can dance slowly, but to be able to dance with speed, and still maintain precision, is an asset to a dancer. Our rep is so varied, and our dancers are so versatile, but it’s wonderful to bring them back to their roots and to see that this ballet, which is nearly 45 years old, is still challenging today.

Arpino Centennial Spotlight:

Adam Sklute

             Ballet West Artistic Director, Adam Sklute

Ballet West, one of America’s leading and largest ballet companies, has earned an international reputation for artistic innovation and excellence since its founding in 1963. The Salt Lake City-based company has entertained audiences in Utah and worldwide by presenting great classical ballets, historical masterpieces, and new cutting-edge creations. The company continues to build future ballet artists and audiences by providing classical ballet training through the Frederick Q. Lawson Ballet West Academy at its four campuses for more than 1,000 students. Ballet West also operates one of the largest education and outreach/community engagement programs in the country, reaching hundreds of thousands of children and adults throughout Utah and the Intermountain Region every year.

The finale of Ballet West’s 2022–23 season features three Ballet West premieres, including Light Rain, in honor of Mr. Arpino’s 100th birthday. The program, entitled “The Wedding,” runs April 14–22, 2023 at the Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City.

Adam Sklute has been artistic director of Ballet West since 2007. He spent 23 years with The Joffrey Ballet, beginning as a dancer, then joined the artistic staff and was part of the team that moved the company from New York to Chicago. Sklute has extensive television and film credits and is an adjunct professor at The University of Utah as well as a teacher, lecturer, coach, and judge for ballet schools, competitions, and companies worldwide.

Ballet West rehearsing Light Rain. Photo credit: Cameron Basden

Adam Sklute’s thoughts and recollections:
What is your personal history performing Arpino works?
I was a dancer with The Joffrey Ballet from the mid-1980s through approximately 2000. I was one of the last dancers hired by Robert Joffrey. When we moved from New York to Chicago, I became a member of the artistic staff as ballet master, then assistant director, and finally as Mr. Arpino’s associate director in 2004. I grew up in Berkeley, California, where the Joffrey used to have residencies and premiered a host of Jerry’s ballets, including Kettentanz, Trinity, and later, across the bay in San Francisco, Light Rain, among many others. I started dancing because of the Joffrey and Jerry’s ballets in particular. Their energy, dynamic, and unique style are what inspired me to dance. When I joined the Joffrey, I was part of a group of dancers always in his works, and later, it was my honor to be by his side as part of a team that taught and coached his ballets. I even helped with the development of the very last two ballets Jerry created: IDNA and his little gem RUTH, Ricordi per Due. Getting him to return to the studios after decades without choreographing was such a labor of love, and RUTH, Ricordi remains a regular part of my company’s repertoire today. My entire career, both as a dancer and in leadership, has been influenced and colored by Jerry’s approach to dance and movement.

What does it mean to you to present Light Rain as we celebrate Mr. Arpino’s centennial?
Among Jerry’s many wonderful ballets, there are a small group that I consider show-stoppers, Light Rain being one of them. Throughout my time with the Joffrey, we performed the work around the world to thunderous applause and cheers. It became a signature work of the Joffrey from the ’80s through the early 2000s. It truly is a hallmark of Jerry’s choreography and unique style. Bringing this joyous, exciting, and fun work to the Centennial is certainly an honor for my company. It also is emotional for me on many levels as it feels a bit like coming home.

How would you describe the Arpino style? What are some distinctive elements of his choreography?
Gerald Arpino’s unique style of movement comes from a combination of classical ballet and modern dance training, in my opinion. His approach to dance is ultimately classically based but with a powerful contemporary use of the torso, the side of the body, and the twist of the spine and hips. Additionally, his movement requires a special type of attack to the steps, either drawing out the beginning and hitting the apex or attacking the start and extending the finish of the movement languorously. Even in slow work, intense energy is required to create the proper effect through the entire body—that energy he simply called “Zaa.” No matter how fast or sharp, there is a lushness and romanticism to his more classically based creations. Watching his works can be like standing in the center of a flight of meteors (to paraphrase Agnes de Mille). That said, he worked in so many different genres and styles that he was also often referred to as “not just one choreographer, but a whole fleet.”

How does dancing Arpino ballets prepare a dancer for other types of repertory?
For all the details I map out in the above comments, his work trains your body to work in total—not just the feet or the legs, but everything moving together. Personally, I feel dancing Jerry’s works made me fearless, taught me coordination, and gave me speed and energy for everything I danced.

Arpino Centennial Spotlight:
Valerie Madonia and Daniel Baudendistel

Excerpt of Arpino’s Light Rain pas de deux danced by Valerie Madonia and Daniel Baudendistel. Click here.

The Lake Tahoe Dance Collective has as its mission to promote classical, modern, and contemporary dance of the finest quality in the Lake Tahoe area through performance, education, and outreach, enriching the community as a whole and as a cultural destination. What started as Tahoe Youth Ballet in 2009 with a single performance has become a company and school that presents a range of performances for Lake Tahoe audiences throughout the year, including its own productions as well as visiting dance companies.

The Lake Tahoe Dance Festival’s 10th Anniversary Celebration takes place July 27–29, and the program includes a pas de deux from Arpino’s Light Rain, performed by Ethan Price and Kate Loxtercamp of Ballet Arizona. Staging the work are Daniel Baudendistel and Valerie Madonia, who danced the work themselves, under Arpino’s direction, in the mid ’90s—you can see an excerpt of a performance featuring them (above) and in rehearsal with Arpino (below). Excerpt of Arpino in rehearsal working with Valerie Madonia and Daniel Baudendistel. Click here.

Valerie Madonia danced professionally for 20 years, including with the National Ballet of Canada, American Ballet Theatre, and The Joffrey Ballet. She toured Southwestern Colorado with her own project-based company, Alpine Dance, Inc. and co-produced and directed a five-year residency between the Joffrey and the Telluride Society for Performing Arts. Madonia has been teaching, directing, and choreographing for 25 years, most notably for the New School University, Joffrey Ballet School, and Colorado Ballet. She is currently guest teaching for American Ballet Theatre and the Joffrey School Trainee program in New York.

Valerie Madonia’s thoughts and recollections:
What is your personal history performing Arpino works? 
I first saw Arpino’s Kettentanz performed by The National Ballet of Canada in the late 1970s as a student in the school there. It was through this work that I fell in love with contemporary ballet. After dancing seven years in some of the most classical ballet companies (The National Ballet of Canada and American Ballet Theatre), I wanted a freedom and joy that I wasn’t finding in the classical roles I was offered and so auditioned for The Joffrey Ballet. I went to see the company at City Center and was truly dazzled by Arpino’s Light Rain and felt immediately that this was the right company for me.
A couple months later, my first day in the studio with the company was with Arpino and a revival of The Clowns ballet. Each of his works was so differently stylized but each carried an honest commitment to his vision. Though I wasn’t challenged physically by The Clowns, I quickly caught on to the contagious effervescence that surrounded Mr. Arpino and found myself strutting en pointe like a chicken as one of his post-apocalyptic clowns. That same year, I was one of three dancers called to the studio as he created the Snow and Flowers scenes for Joffrey’s Victorian Nutcracker.
In my 10 years with the Joffrey, I performed the central pas de deux in Arpino’s Sea Shadow, Round of Angels, Light Rain, Viva Vivaldi, Italian Suite, Trinity, Nutcracker “Snow,” and, as a soloist, in Reflections, Suite Saint-Saëns, and “Waltz of the Flowers.” In 1990, Daniel Baudendistel and I spent many hours in the studio with Mr. Arpino as he started creating a new pas de deux that was tentatively called, The Kiss. 

What does it mean to you to stage this work on Ballet Arizona dancers as we celebrate Mr. Arpino’s centennial? 
Daniel and I spent many, many hours in the studio, often alone together on weekends, analyzing the nuances of the stylized choreography of Light Rain pas de deux and working tirelessly on making the partnering seamless. Arpino was one of my mentors, artistic supporters, and a director who shaped me as a dance artist. Passing on his work to younger generations is an honor and keeps his legacy alive in the beautiful tradition of mentor to acolyte.

How would you describe the Arpino style? What are some distinctive elements of his choreography?
Each of Arpino’s ballets have a flavor that dictates movement and theatricality. He loved to augment his choreography by adding magic in the form of flower petals, glitter, mirrors, smoke.
Arpino liked elongated lines, exaggerated arms, movement initiated from the torso, fast footwork, exciting entrances and exits, pulling off balance, stylized running, and always fluttering bourrées!

How does dancing Arpino ballets prepare a dancer for other types of repertory?
His ballets require great stamina since there is never a moment on stage where one stands still and waits for the next step. His work teaches the dancer to cover as much space as possible, never “mincing” a step but giving value to everything.
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Daniel Baudendistel danced with American Ballet Theatre, The Joffrey Ballet, and the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company. He won First Place at the Saint Sauveur International Choreographic Competition and appeared on Russian television dancing at the Kremlin Palace, with Gala Des Etoiles in Montreal, with the BBC of London, and in the documentary “Ballet Russes.” Baudendistel has directed and choreographed for the Hiroshima Opera Company and was Professor of Dance at the New School University Eugene Lang College in New York City. This is his 10th year teaching at The School of Ballet Arizona, and he has performed with the company in Don Quixote, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Sleeping Beauty, and Romeo & Juliet.

Daniel Baudendistel’s thoughts and recollections:
I joined The Joffrey Ballet in 1981 and almost immediately I was called to a rehearsal of Gerald Arpino’s Light Rain. I was an understudy for the opening pas de trois. Little did I know at the time how important this ballet would become for me. What I came to understand after being in the company for a while was that Arpino’s “style” was really about collaboration. When he was working on a ballet the dancers were encouraged to come up with movements and when he saw something he liked he would put that into the ballet. It was fun, but also rewarding to have your ideas embraced, and I remember liking the style of this particular ballet very much. I ended up leaving the Joffrey before I ever got the chance to dance Light Rain, but, strangely enough, about 10 years later I rejoined the company and began a long and fruitful partnership with Valerie Madonia. Valerie had been in American Ballet Theatre, the company I joined after leaving the Joffrey. We had the privilege of dancing many Arpino ballets together. His partnering work required quite a bit of strength because much of it involved manipulating the woman on and off her balance or lifting her barely off the floor and covering space. James Canfield and Pat Miller had a very special feeling when they danced together, and they were largely responsible for what came to symbolize Arpino’s work. His greatest gift, I believe, was being able to bring out the best in young dancers and take from their strengths.

I am honored to be staging Light Rain with two beautiful dancers from Ballet Arizona. It has been a wonderful time to revisit a work that was such a rewarding part of my life as a dancer and to pass those rewards on to a new generation of dancers.

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Arpino Centennial Spotlight:
Tina LeBlanc

Arpino’s L’Air D’Espirit: Tina LeBlanc and Glenn Edgerton
Photo credit: Herbert Migdoll

Throughout this year and the next two seasons, The Gerald Arpino Foundation is celebrating the legendary choreographer’s 100th birthday through special licensing agreements with ballet companies and university dance programs around the country. We’ll be sharing occasional “spotlights” on some of these performances as we build excitement toward the culminating Chicago Centennial Celebration in September 2023 at the Auditorium Theatre.

Universal Ballet Competition (UBC) is a premier student ballet competition that has expanded into eight major metropolitan cities in the U.S. due to its growing popularity among dancers, studio directors, and the ballet community. Founding members Lissette Salgado and David Lucas, former principal dancers of the Joffrey Ballet and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, have recruited globally renowned dancers, company directors, and ballet school directors to judge, mentor, and teach the master classes during each UBC competition. Since its first season, UBC has hosted and mentored more than 10,000 dancers and awarded more than $3 million in scholarships.

On May 30, UBC is hosting a Gala event in Jacksonville, Florida that features Arpino’s L’Air D’Espirit, performed by Misa Kuranaga and Joseph Walsh of San Francisco Ballet, staged by Tina LeBlanc. L’Air D’Espirit, premiered in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre on Feb 9, 1973, danced by Francesca Corkle and Glenn White. The ballet evokes the feminine aura of the great ballerina Olga Spessivtseva, best known for her ethereal performances of Giselle in the Diaghilev era. We interviewed Tina as she shared her thoughts about Mr. Arpino and more.

What is your personal history performing Arpino works? 

I joined Joffrey II when I was 15 and was fortunate to have some of my own roles even before I joined the main company—I did every young girl role. Some of the Arpino works I performed were Confetti, Kettentanz, Birthday Variations, Suite Saint-Saëns, Light Rain, Viva Vivaldi, L’Air D’Espirit, Clowns, Reflections, and a few that are perhaps less prominent, like The Pantages and the Palace Present “Two-A-Day”, a throwback to vaudeville, and Jamboree, a tribute to San Antonio.

For Kettentanz I remember getting ready in the wings to enter; we were a line of about 12 people, six couples, with our hands on each other’s shoulders, and we’d come in like a snake. As we listened to the intro, we’d say, “OK chain gang! Let’s have a good show!” It was technically difficult, but really beautiful.

L’Air is very close to my heart, one of my favorites while I was dancing. Glenn Edgerton was my first partner, and I also danced it with Tom Mossbrucker.

Reflections was the first slow pas de deux I did with Joffrey—and it was with Ashley Wheater, now the director of the Joffrey.

What does it mean to you to stage the work on San Francisco Ballet dancers as we celebrate Mr. Arpino’s centennial?

It’s been nice to revisit it, hone it a bit more. The older you get the more you learn, and I wish I could go back and do it the way I think now. It’s been really nice to go through it with new dancers who are completely unfamiliar with Arpino’s works and shape it the way I think it should be. Misa and Joseph are in a very good place; they’re beautiful dancers.

How would you describe the Arpino style? What are some distinctive elements of his choreography?

Two words that stand out in my mind are energy and dynamics. His pieces always have them—or as he would put it, “Za, baby! You gotta have za!”—which meant dynamics in my mind. As far as Mr. Arpino himself—in that movie The Company, Malcolm McDowell’s character was spot on.

How does dancing Arpino ballets prepare a dancer for other types of repertory? 

Because they are technically demanding and need a lot of stamina—at least the pieces I did—if you can master this form, you can pretty much do anything. It teaches you how to pace yourself, the musicality, the dynamics. It’s a well-rounded way to approach any piece if you use pacing, musicality, and dynamics. 

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