Gerald Arpino

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Gerald Arpino (born January 14, 1928) is an American dancer and choreographer. He is the artistic director and co-founder of The Joffrey Ballet.

Born in Staten Island, New York, Gerald Arpino studied ballet with Mary Ann Wells, while stationed with the Coast Guard in Seattle, Washington. Arpino first met Robert Joffrey at Wells's school. He studied modern dance with May O'Donnell in whose company he appeared in the 1950s.

In 1956, Arpino was a founding member of the Robert Joffrey Ballet with Robert Joffrey. He served as co-director of the American Ballet Center, the school of the Robert Joffrey Ballet, was resident choreographer for the company, and, in 1965, became co-director of the Joffrey Ballet. After the death of Robert Joffrey in 1988, Arpino became the Artistic Director of the Joffrey Ballet. In 1995, Arpino moved the company to Chicago.

In July 2007, Arpino was named "Artistic Director Emeritus" as a search for a successor began[1].

[edit] Selected Choreography

Partita for Four (1961)
Ropes (1961)
Incubus (1962) Music by Anton Webern
Sea Shadow (1963) Music by Michael Colgrass
Palace (1963)
Viva Vivaldi! (1965) Music by Vivaldi
Olympics (1966) Music by Toshiro Mayuzumi
Nightwings (1966) Music by John LaMontaine
The Clowns (1968) Music by Hershy Kay
Secret Places (1968) Music by Mozart
Trinity (1969) Music by Alan Raph and Lee Holdridge
Confetti (1970) Music by Rossini
Reflections (1971) Music by Tchaikovsky
Valentine (1971) Music by Jacob Druckman
Kettentanz (1971) Music by Johann Strauss and Johann Simon Mayer
Chabriesque (1972) Music by Emmanuel Chabrier
Sacred Grove on Mount Tamalpais (1972) Music by Alan Raph
The Relativity of Icarus (1974)
Drums, Dreams and Banjos (1975) Music by Stephen Foster
Orpheus Times Light (1976)
Suite Saint-Saëns (1978) Music by Saint-Saëns
Celebration (1980) Music by Shostakovich
Light Rain (1981) Music by Douglas Adams and Russ Gauthier
Round of Angels (1983) Music by Mahler
Ruth: Ricordi Per Due (2004) Music by Albinoni

[edit] References

Balanchine, George. Balanchine's Complete Stories of the Great Ballets. (Doubleday, 1977) ISBN 0-385-11381-1
Chujoy, Anatole. The Dance Encyclopedia. (Simon and Schuster, 1967) ISBN 0-671-24027-7
Doeser, Linda. Ballet and Dance: The World's Major Companies, 1977. ISBN 0-312-06599-X