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Arts philanthropist and veterans activist Patricia
Kennedy long regarded as “The First Lady of The Joffrey”
hosted the Los Angeles premiere of the extraordinary tribute
documentary “Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance at Los
Angeles’ Zipper Hall at The Colburn School on February 1,
2012. Kennedy has been associated with the Joffrey for
almost three decades and has been one of the acclaimed
troupe’s most ardent and invaluable supporters.
Kennedy, a close friend
of both Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino the company’s
founders, served on the New York/Los Angeles Board of
Directors from 1985-1994 and continued to support the
company until Gerald’s passing a few years ago in 2008. At a
time when The Joffrey was facing financial ruin and near
collapse, Ms. Kennedy was pivotal to the production of the
internationally acclaimed ballet Billboards as
rock star Prince was her good friend and she suggested the
collaboration between him and the Joffrey and was
instrumental in the two year production of this ground
breaking ballet, Billboards the first-ever
rock ballet became the most commercially successful ballet
in dance history.
Billboards’
great success gave the Joffrey a new lease on life and
brought them refreshed attention in the press and a
worldwide younger audience, most of which had never before
attended a ballet.
She went on to chair many
galas and fundraisers for the company. When she joined the
board of directors, the Joffrey did not have a
Nutcracker in its repertoire, so she spearheaded the
Joffrey’s 30th Anniversary Campaign in 1986 to
raise vital funds for this production and personally
underwrote the Joffrey’s 30th Anniversary art
work (a poster designed by famed artist and friend
Melanie Taylor Kent) which sold thousands to fund Robert
Joffrey’s Nutcracker. Audience members came out at
intermissions and after the performances to purchase posters
personally signed by Robert, Jerry and the dancers and to
greet them, the company raised tens of thousands and the
Nutcracker was born
Hybrid Cinema’s
Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance is the first
film to chronicle the legendary Joffrey Ballet Company. The
feature length documentary takes a look at this
ground-breaking cultural treasure, known as the first truly
American dance company and chronicles how the Joffrey
revolutionized American ballet by daringly combining modern
dance with traditional ballet technique. The film directed
by Bob Hercules and narrated by Mandy
Patinkin had its World Premiere in
New York at Lincoln Center earlier the previous week.
Not surprisingly, the
Los Angeles première was packed to
the rafters with hundreds of Joffrey fans and many former
members of the company which once called L. A. home.
Among the many Joffrey
alums were Jodie
Gates,
Francoise Martinet Moriarty,
Elizabeth Molak-Huebner, Jerry Kokich, Michael
Hudson-Medina, Janey Campbell, Jerry Kokich, Leslie
Carothers-Aromaa and Britta Lazenga.
This
insightful documentary, executive produced by
Harold Ramis
and Jay Alix
and produced by
Una Jackman and
Erica Mann Ramis,
examines the dynamic trajectory of the groundbreaking
American ballet company – The Joffrey Ballet – which
daringly combined traditional ballet and modern dance at a
time when it was not routinely accepted. Weaving together a
wealth of archival footage, behind-the-scene photos and
interviews with former and current Joffrey star dancers,
director Bob Hercules documents the struggles and
achievements of the Joffrey from its newfound beginnings in
1956 to the Company’s present international success.
The film
features rare excerpts from many seminal Joffrey works
including Astarte,
Trinity and
Billboards, as well as
breakthrough collaborations with choreographers such as
Twyla Tharp,
Leonid Massine,
Laura Dean,
and Kurt Jooss.
Founders Robert
Joffrey and
Gerald Arpino
and a host of ballet notables, including
Gary Chryst,
Trinette
Singleton,
Helgi Tomasson,
Kevin McKenzie
and more, are featured in the film.
Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance
is a rich chronicle of a ballet company that continues to
reinvent itself, raise the bar and invigorate audiences
worldwide
The evening
included a fascinating Q&A following the screening
moderated by
Sasha Anawalt, Director, Arts Journalism
Programs at USC Annenberg School for Communication &
Journalism, with panelists
Leslie Carothers-Aromaa,
Artistic Director of the Colburn School’s Trudl Zipper Dance
Institute, Carole
Valleskey, Founder and Director of CDI,
Francoise
Martinet Moriarty, former Joffrey dancer
from the company’s earliest days in the late 1950s, and
Jodie Gates,
Artistic Director of the Laguna Beach Dance Festival and
former Joffrey principal dancer.
Following
the discussion, Ms. Kennedy embraced fellow dance patron
Glorya Kaufman who recently gave The Music Center the
largest gift in its history - $20 million for The Center’s
acclaimed Dance Program. Two of the dance world’s greatest
patrons together on the same stage ensuring the future of
dance in the 21st Century! |