Joffrey Ballet comes to Cleveland
Program Notes courtesy of The Joffrey Ballet

KETTENTANZ
Choreography by Gerald Arpino
Music by Johann Strauss, Sr.(1) & Johann Mayer(2)
Lighting Design by Thomas Skelton
Costumes by Joe Eula

Ballet Notes: The English equivalent to Kettentanz is Chain Dance, and this is part of Arpino’s theme for this ballet, one of the most popular of the many he created for The Joffrey Ballet. It was during the company’s visit to Vienna in 1969 that Mr. Arpino was enthralled by the camaraderie at the local meeting places and the enchanting and lively music played there. It inspired him to choreograph a ballet using some of the waltzes, gallops and polkas associated with the beautiful city on the Danube. The ballet is a salute to the Old Vienna of court balls and wein-gartens. Kettentanz has no corps-de-ballet, just six couples. Each dancer is an individual whether dancing in twos or threes or alone during the nine very challenging and innovative pieces. The result is one of utter charm and delight. This ballet has nine movements: Gitana Galop, Annen Polka, Kettenbrucke Waltz, Eisele und Beisele Sprunge, Chinese Galop, Schnofler Tanz, Seufzer Galop, Cachucha Galop, Gitana Galop World Premiere: September 7, 1971, Zellerbach Auditorium, Berkeley, California.

Music Credits:
(1) Gitana Galop, Opus 108; Annen Polka, Opus 137; Erste Kettenbrucke Walzer, Opus 4; Eisele und Beisele Sprunge, Opus 202; Chineser Galop, Opus 20; Seufzer Galop, Opus 9; Cachucha Galop, Opus 97
(2) Schnofler Tanz

CLOVEN KINGDOM
Choreography by Paul Taylor
Music by Arcangelo Corelli, Henry Cowell and Malloy Miller
Music Combined by Herbert McDowell
Women’s Costumes by Scott Barrie
Headpieces by John Rawlings
Lighting Design by Jennifer Tipton
Staged by Linda Kent

Ballet Notes: “Man is a social animal,” said Spinoza. Just below the surface of humans’ civilized veneer lurks an animal nature that cannot be ignored. The scene is a cotillion ball where members of high society are dressed in formal attire – the gentlemen in tailcoats and the ladies wearing gowns and mirrored headpieces. A baroque score vies for dominance with urgent, percussive 20th Century music, reflecting the struggle between our gentler and more savage natures. As primitive impulses emerge, the women plant seeds and bear progeny, while the men seem no longer to wear tails but bear tails. They prance and stalk on all fours, and their totemic friezes suggest the prehistoric ancestors from whom we have descended. Although the dance ends on a triumphant note with social structures intact, it has become clear that we are not separate from animals, we are animals.

World Premiere: June 9, 1976 Billy Rose Theater, New York, NY
Joffrey Premiere: October 18, 1983 City Center Theater, New York, NY

MOBILE
Choreography by Tomm Ruud
Music by Aram Khachaturian(1)
Costume Design by Tomm Ruud
Lighting Design by Sara Linnie Slocum
Staged by Christopher Ruud

Ballet Notes: Mobile takes its title from the initial letters of the concept which inspired it: Moving Objects Behaving In Linear Equipoise. This serene meditation was inspired by the mobiles of the famed artist Alexander Calder. Mobile is a ballet for three dancers in which the man balances two women in slowly evolving parallelograms that depend on balance and equilibrium. Literally, mobiles that evolve into other mobiles. Tomm Ruud was a member of Ballet West and then in 1975 he joined the San Francisco Ballet as a dancer and choreographer. He was name principal dancer by Helgi Tomasson and later served as a rehearsal assistant. During this time he continued to choreograph, one of his most successful works being Mobile. He also choreographed for the American Ballet Theatre and the National Ballet of Cuba to name a few. World Premiere: Ballet West, 1969

Joffrey Premiere: February 18, 2009, Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, Chicago, Illinois.

(1) Gayne Ballet Suite, Adagio

CAROUSEL (A Dance)
Choreography by Christopher Wheeldon
Music by Richard Rodgers
Arranged and orchestrated by William David Brohn
Costumes by Holly Hynes
Lighting Design by Mark Stanley

Ballet Notes: Christopher Wheeldon's salute to Richard Rodgers uses the music of the composer’s melodic and evocative "Carousel Waltz" and "If I Loved You." Dancing in front of the outline of a ferris wheel projected onto a neutral backdrop, the circular movement of carnival rides and their cheerful colors are echoed in the choreography and costumes for the corps. As the dancers round the stage, in pairs, in a stylized carousel formation, they often separate the rough and tumble carnie worker from the beautiful, shy young woman he loves. With a simple hint at the story of the original play, Wheeldon catches the sweep and emotion of the music and the poignant, doomed nature of the lead couple's relationship with a romantic, tender central pas de deux. Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) met Lorenz Hart in 1918 and began to collaborate with him on the lyrics for popular songs. Their first success was Garrick Gaities in 1925. Between 1926 and 1930, Rodgers and Hart were among America's most popular songwriters, producing many songs for musicals and revues on Broadway and in London's West End. After four years in Hollywood (1930-1934) writing for films, they returned to New York in 1935. In 1936, Rodgers’ first major orchestral music for a ballet sequence was premiered in On Your Toes; it was the ballet Slaughter on Tenth Avenue. Hart's death in 1943 ended a prolific partnership that had produced musicals, films and film versions of their stage presentations. In 1943, Rodgers began collaborating with Oscar Hammerstein II; their first success, Oklahoma, won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1944. Other works that Rodgers and Hammerstein staged were Carousel, Allegro, The King and I (choreographed by Jerome Robbins) and The Sound of Music. Their work on South Pacific brought them a Pulitzer Prize in 1950.

World Premiere: November 26, 2002, New York City Ballet, New York, New York.

Joffrey Premiere: April 29, 2009, Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, Chicago IL.

Inspired by Roger and Hammerstein’s CAROUSEL
Music by Richard Rodgers. Book & Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.
Used by Special Arrangement with The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization and The Rodgers & Hammerstein Concert Library, www.rnh.com

ROUND OF ANGELS

Choreography by Gerald Arpino
Scenery by Penelope Curry
Costumes by A. Christina Giannini
Music by Gustav Mahler(1)
Lighting Design by Thomas Skelton

Ballet Notes: Round of Angels is one of the loveliest and most atmospheric ballets created by Arpino. He was inspired by an etching, Ronde d’Anges, by Caveliere d’Arpino, the hauntingly beautiful Adagietta by Mahler, and the loss of a dear friend. To quote Mr. Arpino: “I have always loved the Mahler piece, the Adagietta from the 5th Symphony.... it was always a special piece to me and Round of Angels came out of the loss of a very close friend, James Howell, who was my assistant for at least 20 years.... so the ballet was very special in that it embodied the bereavement and depth of what I felt for a loved one.” The two central figures are surrounded by five men representing broken-winged angels, who swirl and circle the female and her partner. They lift her and sweep her up and down as if she were a feather in the wind. Arpino was never afraid to tackle sensitive subjects and in this case he conveyed the depth of his feeling with astonishing sensitivity. This is a serene work unlike many of his other ballets, which are wonders of vitality and virtuosity. The lead male role in Round of Angels was danced by Artistic Director, Ashley C. Wheater, in the 1980’s when he was a member of The Joffrey Ballet.

World Premiere: January 5, 1983, The Joffrey Ballet, City Center Theater, New York, New York.

(1) Adagietto from Symphony No. 5 in c# minor, Opus 47.

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