Robert Joffrey

Robert Joffrey
Joffrey in 1981
Born	Abdullah Jaffa Bey Khan December 24, 1930 Seattle, Washington
Died	March 25, 1988(1988-03-25) (aged 57) New York City, New York
Nationality	American
Occupation	Choreographer, dancer, director
Years active	1950–1988
Website	The Gerald Arpino and Robert Joffrey Foundation
Current group	Joffrey Ballet

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.

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.

In 1954, he formed his own company, which premiered Le bal masqué (The Masked Ball, 1954; music by French composer Francis Poulenc) and Pierrot Lunaire (1955; music by Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg). Joffrey's other works include Gamelan (1962) and Astarte (1967), which was set to rock music with special lighting and motion-picture effects. The pas de deux features a man who leaves his seat in the audience to climb on stage for an erotic dance with the “tattooed love goddess”.