Joffrey Ballet School

The Joffrey Ballet School is located in New York City and is a school which trains dancers for professional careers in ballet. The school also provides classes for children and beginning adults.

The Joffrey Ballet School is directly connected to the Joffrey Ballet Company which is, since 1995, based in Chicago Illinois.

Robert Joffrey, who was born in Seattle in 1930, founded the school with Gerald Arpino in 1953. Their mission was to develop and train professional ballet dancers as there were not many professional ballet schools in the United States at that time.

In 1956, Joffrey and Arpino founded the Joffrey Ballet Company. With Joffrey at the helm, the company built an outstanding reputation by performing a mixed repertoire of original ballets and rarer classics, such as Mikhail Fokine's Petrouchka as well as others that had been created for and performed by Serge Diaghilev's Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.

Robert Joffrey died in 1988, leaving the School and the Company in the hands of Arpino. Financial woes followed and Arpino decided to moved the company to Chicago in 1995. The school remained in New York City.

The original location of the School was in a converted chocolate factory in Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan. In 1960, the school moved to 434 Sixth Avenue (also in Greenwich village) between 9th and 10th street. It occupies 10,000 square feet on the third and fourth floors of the building which is a historic landmark.

Robert Joffrey, until his death, was the Artistic Director of both the school and the company. Gerald Arpino took over thereafter. Edith D'Addario, also known as "Mrs. D." joined the staff in 1961 and from 1962 on oversaw daily operations as the school director until recently. Her daughter Gail D'Addario, a former student, is the current director.

The Joffrey School offers a variety of types of classes for children, pre-professionals and adults. The childrens program offers:

• Dance With Me and Creative Movement: ages 2.5 - 5
• Pre-Ballet: ages 5-6
• Ballet Foundations: ages 7-15
• Ballet 1-5: ages 7-15

Adults with no prior ballet training can also take classes. There are open classes for intermediate adults and professionals.

The Junior Trainee Program is a 6 day per week, after school program for students who intend to move towards a professional dance career and/or may be interested in colleges with a dance major. Students take the following classes:

• Ballet technique: daily
• Pointe
• Pas de deux partnering
• Variations
• Contemporary ballet
• Character, jazz and pilates are optional

There is also an eight week summer intensive program that runs from June to August. The last four weeks are open only to those who will perform in the end of the session show.

The Joffrey school is an accredited member of the National Association of of Schools of Dance. It is also meets the standards set by the Department of Education for vocational training.

The Training Program is a four year, post secondary program. Upon completion of 3450 hours done in no less than four but no more than 6 years, dancers are awarded a Certificate. Students are expected to take minimum of 14 classes per week. Joffrey students do not receive grades but are evaluated on scale from unsatisfactory to excellent, on every element of ballet technique at the end of each semester. Students can be placed on probation and dropped from the program if it is determined that they are not making sufficient progress.

All training programs, junior, pre-professional and summer intensive require admittance based on audition. Auditions can be in person in, at a touring audition site, or by VHS/DVD submission.

As of 2008 fees were as follows:

There is also a one time application fee of $50 and a yearly registration fee of $75.

The Joffrey Ballet School has produced some of the most accomplished ballet professionals in the world. It is a wonderful place to get exceptional training in ballet no matter what your level.

• Photos of Ballet Dancers
• Dance Studio Equipment
• Pictures of Limbo Dancing

• Dance Steps to Thriller
• Popular Line Dances
• Famous Choreographers
• Country Line Dance Steps
• Famous Ballet Dancers

• Tulle Ballet Skirt
• Ballet Positions
• Ballet Movements
• Bella Dancerella Home Ballet Studio
• Nutcracker March