A New Era for a Joffrey Ballerina

At a time when the Joffrey Ballet repertory is re-emphasizing classical purity and technical aplomb, 21-year-old Tina LeBlanc has attracted special notice in such demanding ballets as “La Fille mal Gardee,” “La Vivandiere” and the company’s new production of “The Nutcracker.”

LeBlanc’s emergence comes just as the Joffrey confronts life without its founder and adapts to its new artistic director, Gerald Arpino. The period leading up to Joffrey’s death had already been difficult. But, as LeBlanc recalls, “We all kept thinking, ‘Maybe he’ll get better.’ ”

She says Joffrey’s presence still made itself felt during those last months. “He was thoroughly involved, even though he wasn’t there in the studio with us,” she explains. “He saw tapes of what we were doing. And he oversaw all phases of ‘The Nutcracker,’ ” in which LeBlanc was one of three ballerinas alternating as the Sugar Plum Fairy.

“When we heard that he had died, we were in Chicago, and it was very hard for us to come into class and face an empty stage, to see everybody who represented what he was about,” LeBlanc says.

“To get ourselves going that day was almost torture. But the performance picked us up, because it was dedicated to him and included three of his favorite ballets. Almost everyone performed that night, and it brought us all together.”

LeBlanc met Joffrey at the age of 15, shortly after she joined Joffrey II, the junior troupe from which dancers often move into the main company. Sally Bliss, then Joffrey II’s director, had spotted her performing at a regional ballet festival and invited her to join.

“It was outdoors, and I wasn’t performing, so I was in my shorts with my hair down. Sally Bliss said to him, ‘Come meet our new dancer,’ and I was just mortified that I wasn’t better dressed or more neat.”

Strong and demanding early training in her native Pennsylvania had prepared LeBlanc well by the time Bliss noticed her. As a student of Marcia Dale Weary, whose alumni include several members of New York City Ballet and dancers in companies around the country, Le Blanc worked hard and gained valuable experience at an early age: “We had to take 15 classes a week once we got to the advanced level,” she remembers.

Frequent guest teachers introduced the students to a variety of balletic styles, and through Weary’s Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet they began performing early.

“I was learning ‘Pas de Quatre’ when I was 11 and performing it for several years,” LeBlanc says.

The young dancer entered the Joffrey II during a period when it often rehearsed and performed alongside the larger company, and she danced roles in “Offenbach in the Underworld” and “Dream Dances” even before officially joining the Joffrey at 17.

“The biggest change for me was that instead of having stamina for so many classes all day, I had to be standing up rehearsing all day, and that requires a completely different kind of stamina,” LeBlanc says.

Since she joined the company, it was Arpino who has been more of a day-to-day presence for the dancers. His domain was primarily the studio, and they got to know him through rehearsals of his ballets. For LeBlanc, “he was the one to actually get on my case and try to pull something out of me.

“It wasn’t that Mr. Joffrey was removed; it was just that he had other things to deal with. We’d see him around. It wasn’t unusual for him to just step into a rehearsal room when he had a free moment.

“Mostly, we felt his presence in the repertory. Also, each of us had individual meetings with him whenever our contracts were up. He would evaluate how we were doing and tell us what to work on.”

Roles in Arpino’s ballets--including “Confetti” and “Kettentanz”--came LeBlanc’s way from the start, and in 1986 the choreographer gave her a bravura role in his “Birthday Variations.” She scored a triumph last fall in his “L’Air d’Esprit,” his evocation of the Romantic era, and considers that pas de deux one of her favorite roles, along with Lise in “Fille” (her first full-length assignment).

The revival last Autumn of “La Vivandiere” created a stir that took LeBlanc by surprise. “I felt it was a nice little piece, but I really didn’t expect it to get the response it did. I find the fast footwork comes pretty easily to me, and I like to jump. Also, having a small cast makes it a little more special. You develop a nice rapport with the other dancers on stage with you.”

In addition to anticipating the Los Angeles season opening Tuesday at the Music Center--during which her repertoire includes “Vivandiere,” “Petrushka” and James Kudelka’s new “Concerto Grosso”--LeBlanc is looking ahead eagerly to her wedding to general contractor Marco Jerkunica, which will take place in Laguna Beach two days after the season ends.

Beyond that, there is the remainder of this season’s touring, and then additional roles and further challenges in seasons to come.

As for what lies ahead for the company, LeBlanc calls the immediate future “a testing time for us. Mr. Joffrey had set goals for the company and had a five-year plan of what he wanted to see happen. Things are going to change, and nobody can say for sure how. It’s going to be a little difficult; we just have to wait it out and see what happens.”