28 Facts About Robert Joffrey

1. Robert Joffrey passed away in 1988 leaving Gerald Arpino to carry on the legacy of the company.

2. Robert Joffrey started again, building up a new company that made its debut in 1965 as the Joffrey Ballet.

3. Robert Joffrey discovered and introduced innumerable modern dance choreographers to ballet audiences.

4. Robert Joffrey was a master teacher with an eye for talent.

5. Robert Joffrey was born in Seattle, Washington in 1930 and died in New York City in 1988.

6. Robert Joffrey commissioned many new ballets from new or untried choreographers.

7. Robert Joffrey died in 1988 and, after severe financial crises in New York, the company reorganized and under Arpino's direction made its permanent home in Chicago in 1995.

8. Robert Joffrey created Rememberances in 1973, Beautiful Dreamer in 1975, and Postcards in 1980.

9. Robert Joffrey performed Pas des Deesses and Persephone while exhibiting there.

10. Robert Joffrey had attracted enough media and dance world attention to become the first American choreographer invited to stage his works for the prestigious Ballet Lambert in England.

11. Robert Joffrey launched his company to tour with six dancers, one of whom was longtime friend, co-founder and associate director, Gerald Arpino, and a borrowed station wagon in 1956.

12. Robert Joffrey accomplished all this besides his already heavy teaching load.

13. Robert Joffrey premiered two new ballets on that occasion, Pas des Deesses and Le Bal Masque.

14. Robert Joffrey used his skills as a teacher to produce his first ballet.

15. At the age of 12, Robert Joffrey began serious study of dance under the auspices of Mary Ann Wells.

16. Robert Joffrey performed as a soloist in the troupe, Miss O'Donnell's, during the 1953 season of "American Dance" at the Alvin Theater in New York.

17. Robert Joffrey was born in Seattle, Washington, on December 24, 1930, to an Afghan father and an Italian mother.

18. Robert Joffrey was buried at the Cathedral of Saint John Divine.

19. Robert Joffrey had a long-term romantic relationship with Gerald Arpino, his co-director.

20. Robert Joffrey operated it as a separate company from The Joffrey Academy of Dance in Chicago, the official school for the Joffrey Ballet Company.

21. Robert Joffrey was born on December 24, 1930, in Seattle, Washington in the United States of America.

22. Robert Joffrey is the co-founder of the Joffrey Ballet along with his partner, Gerald Arpino.

23. Robert Joffrey was educated at the University of Glasgow and entered his father's countinghouse.

24. Robert Joffrey is interred at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine.

25. Robert Joffrey founded the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City in 1953, where it remains as a separate organization from The Joffrey Academy of Dance in Chicago, which is the official school of the Joffrey Ballet Company.

26. Robert Joffrey was born Anver Bey Abdullah Jaffa Khan in Seattle, Washington to a Pashtun father from Afghanistan and a mother from Italy.

27. Robert Joffrey began his dance training at nine years old in Seattle as a remedy for asthma under instructor Mary Anne Wells.

28. Robert Joffrey was an American dancer, teacher, producer, choreographer, and co-founder of the Joffrey Ballet, known for his highly imaginative modern ballets.