"It's typical for the Joffrey Ballet to seat a mixed-repertory concert near the beginning of the year. But the 2026 edition of such an evening (a series of loosely connected shorter works packaged together), breaks at least one habit. There's nothing new in "American Icons," running two weekends at the Lyric Opera House. Instead, the Joffrey has dug up a range of works showcasing mid-20th century innovation and the porous kinship between ballet and modern dance during that time."
"To carve out its own space, Joffrey had to be different, and the distinct flavor they brought to the table then is what's on view now in Chicago, the company's home for the last 30 years. If you've only recently met the Joffrey Ballet, or are only familiar with the big, beefy, narrative works done the rest of the year, here is a chance to really know them."
American Icons assembles four mid-20th-century pieces that reveal a period of experimentation and crossover between ballet and modern dance. The works, created within a roughly twenty-year span, highlight collaborations with designers and composers and display movement vocabularies freed from older rules. The program underscores the Joffrey Ballet's early identity of bold, athletic choreography under Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino, a company that differentiated itself from larger peers through adventurous repertory. The evening opens with Gerald Arpino's jaunty Kettentanz, which reflects occasional classical stylings and demanding, swift directional changes that mix classical and contemporary elements. The presentation offers Chicago audiences an opportunity to experience the Joffrey's distinctive, historically rooted stylistic edge.
Read at Chicago Tribune
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