IDENTIFICATION AND BIO:
Ballet choreographer Gerald Arpino is the cofounder and artistic director of the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, which began in 1956 as the Joffrey Ballet. Arpino was a leading dancer with the company in its early years. He began choreographing in the early 1960s and, soon thereafter, in addition to serving as associate director, became the company's resident choreographer. According to the company's chronicler, Sasha Anawalt, Arpino sought out a string of musically trained assistants to help him with his choreographic endeavors. The first such was James (Jim) Howell (see Anawalt, p. 136), who was a member of the Joffrey Ballet when the company was based in New York City. When Howell died of AIDS in 1982, Arpino created the ballet Round of Angels (1983) in his memory. According to Anawalt, in Round of Angels, "Arpino returned to his most intimate use of male partnering. For the score, he used the romantic Adagietto in C Minor from Mahler's Fifth Symphony, a work that many protested could not be danced to. The ballet was dedicated to the memory of James Howell, who had died on October 21, 1982, of causes related to AIDS" (pp. 326-27). Arpino was also a key supporter of the Dancing for Life AIDS benefit that took place at the New York State Theater in 1987.
KEY CONTACT PERSON(S)/EXECUTOR OF ESTATE:
Jon H. Teeuwissen, Executive Director
Joffrey Ballet of Chicago
70 E. Lake, Suite 1300
Chicago, IL 60601
312-739-0120 (phone)
312-739-0119 (fax)
jteeuwissen@joffreyballet.org
HUMAN REPOSITORIES OF THE WORK
(name and contact info, relationship to the artist and the work, assessment):
Numerous current and former dancers of the Joffrey Ballet have performed Round of Angels, prominently Leslie Carothers and Ashley Wheater, Patricia Miller and James Canfield, and Patricia Miller and Glenn White. The cast for the version of Round of Angels filmed for the Jerome Robbins Archive at the Dance Collection of the New York Public Library includes Erik Dirk, Glenn Edgerton, Patricia Miller, James Canfield, Luis Perez, Jerry Kokich, and Daniel Baudendistel.
VIDEO DOCUMENTATION
(location, format, condition, assessment):
One film document is available for viewing at the New York Public Library Dance Collection:
Round of Angels (1983)—filmed in rehearsal at City Center Theater, New York, in costumes on 11 November; motion picture; one reel 16 mm (13 min); call number MGZHB –2301.
PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTATION
(location, format, condition, assessment):
Photographs of Round of Angels are held in the files of the Joffrey Ballet. Photographs of Canfield and Miller are held at the Dance Collection of the New York Public Library.
MOVEMENT NOTATION
(location, type [including notes taken by dancers], assessment):
None identified, although six other works by Arpino have been notated and are held in the archive of the Dance Notation Bureau.
PRODUCTION MATERIALS
(scores, sound recordings, set/costume designs):
All materials are held in storage by Joffrey Ballet of Chicago.
ORAL HISTORY:
Gerald Arpino has been interviewed extensively in the press, though no particular conversation about Round of Angels has been identified. The following videotape, however, contained in the Dance Collection of the New York Public Library, is described as containing information on Round of Angels:
A Night at the Joffrey (1989)—television program aired 28 April; co-produced by WNET, New York, and Danmarks Radio; ballets directed by Thomas Grimm; interviews directed by Judy Kinberg; produced by Judy Kinberg and Thomas Grimm; executive producer, Jac Venza; writer, Holly Brubach; one 3/4 in. videocassette (60 min.); call number MGZIC 9-1966.
PERSONAL PAPERS
(location of newspaper clippings, printed programs, press releases, notes, files, diaries; assessment):
Arpino's personal papers are stored at his home in New York City. The Dance Collection of the New York Public Library holds a clippings file for Round of Angels.
IMMEDIATE NEEDS
(archival assistance? storage? other?):
None identified.
OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION:
According to Arpino's personal assistant, Tom Mulvihill (9/99), Round of Angels is not in the current Joffrey repertory, but its revival is under discussion.
Other works made by Arpino in association with Howell include:
Sea Shadow (1961)
Partita for 4 (1967)
Ropes (1968)
Kettentanz (1971)
Suite Saint-Saens (1978)
Light Rain (1981)
PARTIAL LIST OR OVERVIEW OF WORKS
(title, premiere date, music, production notes, performers):
Round of Angels (1983)—choreography by Gerald Arpino for the Joffrey Ballet; dedicated to James Howell.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
- Anawalt, Sasha. 1996. The Joffrey Ballet: Robert Joffrey and the Making of an American Dance Company. NY: Scribner.
- Anderson, Jack. 1983. "New York Newsletter." Dancing Times (March): 449,
illus.
- Barnes, Patricia. 1983. "Joffrey Takes Off: Latest New York Season was Their Last for a Whole Year" [review of Gerald Arpino's Round of Angels]. Dance & Dancers (May): 52-53.
- Reiter, Susan. 1983. "Reports: New York" [review of Dec. 22-Jan. 16 Joffrey Ballet City Center Season including 'Fire' by Dean and new Arpino ballet]. Ballet News 4 (10) (April): 30.
- Vaughan, David. 1983. "The Joffrey Ballet, City Center, NY, Dec. 22, 1982-Jan. 16, 1983." Dance Magazine (April): 38-40.
