It’s typical for the Joffrey Ballet to seat a mixed-repertory concert near the beginning of the year. But the 2026 edition of such an evening (a series of loosely connected shorter works packaged together), breaks at least one habit.
There’s nothing new in “American Icons,” running two weekends at the Lyric Opera House. Instead, the Joffrey has dug up a range of works showcasing mid-20th century innovation and the porous kinship between ballet and modern dance during that time.
The evening’s four pieces, created less than 20 years apart, demonstrate a remarkable flashpoint in which choreographers and companies experimented with new ways of making dance, there were fresh collaborations with designers and composers, and movement vocabularies were unencumbered by the rules of the past. That enthusiasm for big, bold moves in ballet is what defined the Joffrey in its early years, when Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino’s scrappy-by-comparison company was a competitor of New York’s two big ballet companies: New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre.
To carve out its own space, Joffrey had to be different, and the distinct flavor they brought to the table then is what’s on view now in Chicago, the company’s home for the last 30 years. If you’ve only recently met the Joffrey Ballet, or are only familiar with the big, beefy, narrative works done the rest of the year, here is a chance to really know them.
Arpino’s jaunty “Kettentanz” opens the evening, representing his occasional forays into more classical stylings. Like “Birthday Variations” and “L’Air d’Esprit” (works seen more recently as part of the 2023 Arpino Centennial), the suite of divertissements set to Viennese-inspired dances is among the more classical in his catalog—at first glance.
Fiendishly hard, “Kettentanz” is a remarkable example of Arpino’s penchant for swift directional changes, blending the classical and contemporary, the formal and informal, and demanding “more, more, more” from each of its dancers, all the time. Some noticeable opening night wobbles and bobbles only served to prove that point. My guess is Arpino would have rather seen dancers push to the edge and miss than play it safe. Stager Suzanne Lopez, who danced in the company for two decades and currently leads its academy, no doubt asked for the same.
In the first few decades, Arpino produced scores of elegant if somewhat utilitarian dances for the Joffrey to fill an evening when money was tight. That has sometimes meant he doesn’t get the credit he deserves as among the “American Icons” of 20th century luminaries. I don’t know that “Kettentanz” is the strongest example of why he belongs there without prior knowledge of all he contributed. But for the purposes of this particular evening, it’s a proper opener, packed with joy, color and technical flair; as always, Arpino is there to round out the program.
From Arpino’s creative partner, Joffrey, is a sweetly sentimental excerpt from his 1980 episodic ballet “Postcards,” danced Thursday by Anais Bueno and Stefan Gonçalvez with mezzo-soprano Camille Robles — a superb 2025-26 member of the Lyric Opera’s proving ground, the Ryan Opera Center. Set with evocative score by French composer Erik Satie (purportedly a favorite of Joffrey’s), “Postcards” is a love note to turn-of-the-20th century Paris and was among the last works Joffrey made (he died in 1988). It is sweetly sentimental in more ways than one. Bueno and Gonçalvez, beautifully drenched in sepia tones and framed by Joe Brainard and Herbert Migdoll’s subtly Spirographed backdrop, channel Paris, to be sure, and Joffrey himself.
Between “Kettentanz” and “Postcards” is “Secular Games,” by Martha Graham, considered among the matriarchs of modern dance. Swapping pointe shoes and pink tights for bare feet and leotards, Graham’s idiosyncratic technique may at first seem a stretch for the Joffrey company. But “Secular Games” is a supremely smart choice, balletic enough for the dancers to find a sense of ease and confidence, and lesser known than Graham’s defining works, which audiences might have the foresight to nitpick. Set in 1962, the plotless piece explores the antics imposed on men and women in pursuit of one another. It’s a game, after all, evoking a beach scene in which athletic beauties bathing on the titular Socratic island draw loose comparison between the ancient Olympics (fitting) and matters of the heart.
Glen Tetley, who would have turned 100 years old this month, may appear to be the wild card choreographer on this program, but he and his 1973 work “Voluntaries” are actually the evening’s lynchpin.
Tetley was one of the Joffrey Ballet’s original dancers — a Midwest-born sailor who moved to New York to study with ballet with Antony Tudor, Margaret Craske and George Balanchine, and modern dance with Hanya Holm and Martha Graham. Thus “Voluntaries,” an extraordinary tribute created for late choreographer John Cranko, is among the very best examples of how two seemingly disparate dance forms share connective tissue.
Yet, surprisingly, the Joffrey has not performed “Voluntaries” until now, making it the “something (sort of) new” in this living history lesson. With the lead roles exquisitely danced by Victoria Jaiani and Dylan Gutierrez, plus Amanda Assucena, and a dazzling ensemble evoking audible gasps from an enthralled and here-for-it audience, “Voluntaries” alone deems this an evening not to be missed. Rouben Ter-Arutunian’s otherworldly original set and costume designs defy logic: A glowing, confetti-speckled orb behind the dancers somehow changes hues (with support from lighting designer John B. Read, recreated by Chris Maravich). The bit of glimmer is echoed in subtle flecks on the dancers’ shimmery white unitards.
Not to be left out are organists Douglas Cleveland and John W.W. Sherer, who alternate as featured soloists for the accompanying score: Francis Poulenc’s Concerto for Organ, Strings and Percussion. To my knowledge, it’s the Joffrey’s first opportunity to use the Lyric’s organ since moving performances there a few years ago. That’s just the cherry on top of a program that’s as remarkable for its music as it is for the dancing.
Lauren Warnecke is a freelance critic.
Review: Joffrey Ballet’s “American Icons” (3.5 stars)
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When: Through March 1
Where: Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive
Running time: 2 hours with 2 intermissions
Tickets: $46-$203 at 312-386-9805 and joffrey.org