Robert Joffrey
Robert Joffrey (born Abdullah Jaffa Bey Khan; December 24, 1930 – March 25, 1988) was an American dancer, teacher, producer, choreographer, and co-founder of the Joffrey Ballet, known for his highly imaginative modern ballets. He was born Abdullah Jaffa Bey Khan in Seattle, Washington to a Pashtun father from Afghanistan and a mother from Italy.
Life and work
Joffrey began his dance training at nine years old in Seattle as a remedy for asthma under instructor Mary Anne Wells. He later studied ballet and modern dance in New York City and made his debut in 1949 with the French choreographer Roland Petit and his Ballet de l'Opéra National de Paris. From 1950 to 1955, he taught at the New York High School for the Performing Arts, where he staged his earliest ballets. He 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.
As one of the first prolific choreographers to have studied both modern dance and ballet, his choreography began to create the hybrid between modern and ballet that is very common today. His choreography seamlessly blends the precise footwork, precision, and grace of classical ballet with the floorwork, upper body dexterity, and raw emotion of modern dance.
