Word: joffreys
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...Joffrey Ballet...
Dance: The Joffrey sets ballet to a street beat...
...wolf whistle from the crowd when the curtain goes up on an evening of ballet. But that's what happened last week at Minneapolis' Northrop Auditorium as the music of rock star Prince zoomed toward bombination. The occasion was Billboards, a new work presented by the Manhattan-based Joffrey Ballet in a frank attempt to link the world of ballet to the life of young people in the streets. The company desperately needs a hit, and Billboards -- loud, generous of spirit, heart-on-sleeve romantic -- looks to be it. Last week the 4,800-seat Northrop was nearly sold...
...dance troupes have been hit hard by the recession, and this company has been especially pressed since the death of founder Robert Joffrey in 1988. Temporary salvation came when new fan Prince (or Prince Rogers Nelson, as he is called in the program) donated several of his songs. Artistic director Gerald Arpino invited four choreographers to contribute: Laura Dean, Charles Moulton, Margo Sappington and Peter Pucci. None is known primarily for classical pieces, but all clearly responded well with the highly polished Joffrey dancers. The results vary in quality, but the whole evening reflects an enthusiastic effort to marry...
Billboards, which the Joffrey will take on a 20-city tour over the next seven months, is hardly the first time ballet has reached out to pop. Balanchine used Gershwin, Paul Taylor the Andrews Sisters, Alvin Ailey Count Basie and others. And of course the great rock performers like Michael Jackson and Mick Jagger have set the standard of movement in that particular pop art. Still, the Joffrey evening radiates grace because it embraces a challenging world with very little in the way of snobbery or preconception...