Gerald Arpino (January 14, 1923 – October 29, 2008) was an American dancer and choreographer. He was the co-founder of the Joffrey Ballet and succeeded Robert Joffrey as its artistic director in 1988.[1]
In 1956, Arpino was a founding member of the Robert Joffrey Theatre Ballet with Robert Joffrey. He served as co-director of the company's school, the American Ballet Center, and was the leading dancer until an injury forced him to stop in 1963.[3] By 1965 he had choreographed five works for the company, and became the Joffrey's co-director and resident choreographer. In the first twenty-five years of the company's existence, Arpino had created more than a third of all its commissioned ballets.[4][5]
After the death of Robert Joffrey in 1988, Arpino became the artistic director of the Joffrey Ballet and in 1995 moved the company to Chicago. In July 2007, he was named "Artistic Director Emeritus" as a search for a successor began. Arpino suffered from prostate cancer for seven months and eventually died on October 29, 2008.
Sea Shadow (1961) Music by Maurice Ravel, second movement of Piano Concerto in G. Alternate music by Michael Colgrass, 1963 (due to copyright problems with Ravel).
