[rating=4]The wonderful Joffrey Ballet has launched its 2010/2011 Stars Season with a marvelous show- “All Stars” featuring master choreographers George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins and Christopher Wheeldon. I must tell you that I enjoyed what I saw and to be sure, you will too! With the works of Stravinsky and the sensational “After The Rain” ( The Joffrey is the first troupe to be allowed to do the entire piece), this would be a must see Ballet, but the third act in the two hour delight is something very rare and special, a comedy work entitled “The Concert” ( or the perils of everybody) where a pianist, who is about to do what appears to be a concert in the park has in his audience some of the strangest characters, who do some of the strangest movements which makes for a wonderful entertainment piece.
The dancers I witnessed doing the star or solo parts were extraordinary ( which for the Joffrey dancers is normal, as they are exceptional talents). April Daly, Miguel Angel Blanco. Victoria Jaiani, Temur Suluashvili, Amber Neumann,Graham Maverick, Yumelia Garcia, Lucas Segovia, Kara Zimmerman and Mauro Villanueva were outstanding. But it is important to note that The Joffrey alternates its dancers so unlike a play, you may never see the same dancer playing the same role during a run- that is because of the strain on the body and that each of their troupe is as talented as the next. We are very fortunate to have The Joffrey here in our city.
I truly enjoyed seeing a lighter tone number in the performance and the first thing I thought was, wouldn’t it be wonderful if they were able to do this on a more regular basis. Perhaps if they did, younger boys would join the girls in attending these performances wit their parents. I will tell you that on Sunday, with a Home Bears game just down the street from the Auditorium Theatre, there was a full house, a tribute to the Joffrey Ballet and to the Chicago area audiences who love their work.
If you want to catch this one, you can until October 24th at The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University located at 50 East Congress Parkway. The performance schedule is:
Thursday, October 21st at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 22nd at 2 and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 24th at 2 p.m.
Tickets range from $25 to $145 and there are NO bad seats in the house. To purchase your tickets, visit the box office, call 800-982-2727, visit any Ticketmaster outlet or online, www.ticketmaster.com
For further info on The Joffrey, visit www.joffrey.org
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