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The Joffrey Ballet was founded in 1956 with a radical idea: that ballet was for everyone. In a new large-scale exhibit at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, The Joffrey + Ballet in the U.S., visitors can witness how this groundbreaking approach to a timeless dance form has shaped the legacy of the company and ballet in America. The exhibit contains artifacts and media from one of the Library’s largest acquisitions of the past decade, the entire Joffrey archive.
Join Untapped New York members on October 17th for an exclusive tour of the new exhibit led by Kathleen Leary, the Arnhold Dance Education Coordinator at the Jerome Robbins Dance Division of the NYPL LPA! This tour is free for Untapped New York Insiders! Not an Insider yet? Join today.
The Joffrey + Ballet in the U.S. Exhibit
The Joffrey Ballet company was created by Abdullah Jaffa Bey Khan and his co-founder Gerald Arpino. Khan was the son of immigrants from Afghanistan and Italy. He took on the name Robert Joffrey in high school. As a child, Khan suffered from asthma attacks and wore casts on his feet to correct bowed legs. Ballet became an outlet through which he found strength. Despite his physical ailments and cultural distance from the traditionally elite European world of ballet, he was determined to master the art form.
The company started with just six dancers who traveled the country in a station wagon. They were diverse and, like Joffrey, didn’t fit the typical image of a ballet dancer. Neither did their moves. Joffrey performances included classic works and contemporary choreography influenced by ballet, modern dance, and social dance. Rather than sticking to traditional venues, the company appeared on television, collaborated with big brands, and courted celebrities.
The company has seen success and failure, growth and uncertainty, many times over the past seven decades. Based in Chicago, the globally renowned company now has 40 dancers.
The exhibit at NYPL LPA tells the Joffrey story through a colorful and captivating display of newly digitized rare films, costumes, props, pointe shoes, posters, and correspondence, and personal items from the co-founders including Gerald Arpino’s traveling trunk and Robert Joffrey’s high school report card where he declares his intention to be a dancer and join a ballet company.
The Joffrey + Ballet in the U.S. will be on view in New York City through March 1st, 2025. In the fall of next year, it will move to the ballet company’s hometown of Chicago. Don’t miss your chance to see the exhibit with a special inside perspective at our upcoming tour! Check out more photos from the exhibit below:
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