It was risky. Chicago loved the Joffrey when it toured here, but there was no evidence Chicagoans would embrace a full-time ballet company of their own. Even the dancers weren’t totally convinced; many kept their New York addresses for a few seasons until they knew the move was going to stick.
Joffrey Ballet dancer Victoria Jaiani alone on stage in the Arpino Chicago Centennial Celebration at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago Sept. 23, 2023. “RUTH,” on the other hand, fits Ballet West dancers Katlyn Addison and Hadriel Diniz like a glove. I don’t know if Arpino knew it would be his last ballet, but it comes across as a requiem, in hindsight, endeavoring toward a longer view than something like “Sea Shadow.” The latter was created at a time when Arpino was charged with filling out the Joffrey’s rep to make sure they had something to go on stage; the former, near the end of his life, when commissions were few and far between.