Balancing Act : Joffrey Dancers Open Last Season Tonight as Resident Company of the L.A. Music Center

Even though the Joffrey Ballet’s spring season in Los Angeles--which opens tonight--represents the Joffrey’s last dance as the Music Center’s resident dance company, Joffrey dancers say the behind-the-scenes turmoil only made the dancers and their performances stronger.

“These are the kinds of things that inspire artists to go above and beyond any level of achievement they may have had already,” said longtime Joffrey dancer Carl Corry.

“It’s a situation . . . where the company is going through a change,” Corry said by telephone from his New York home. “And change, generally, as in life sometimes, is painful. However, looked at properly, and seen in the right light, change can be a very positive and growing experience for the company, as it has been this year.”

The last year afforded the Joffrey more than its share of change, Joffrey dancers ruefully admit. Although negotiations are under way for future Joffrey appearances in Los Angeles, the May 7-June 2 season represents the last time the company will be presented as a Music Center resident company; its contract expires June 30.

The Music Center pact, struck in 1983, was terminated March 4 as a result of the company’s inability to prove good financial health to the Music Center. That action culminated a tumultuous year for the Joffrey. On the eve of last year’s season, artistic director Gerald Arpino abruptly resigned but returned two weeks later over a struggle for control of the company--triggered by financial problems.

And this year’s spring season--celebrating with a 35th-anniversary gala tonight featuring four Los Angeles premieres--remained in doubt until late March as the company scrambled to acquire sufficient funds to dance here.

The company suffered another blow during its Feb. 26-March 17 season in New York: choreographer Edward Stierle--whose new ballet “Empyrean Dances” and an earlier work, “Lacrymosa,” are on the current program--died at age 23 of AIDS just days after taking a bow onstage at the premiere of his latest work.

“It was a really emotional and traumatic season, with everything that went on,” said Jodie Gates, who has spent 11 years with the Joffrey and the apprentice company, Joffrey II. “But it was also incredibly inspiring. . . .

“I think there was a lot of anxiety about it, I think the dancers feel really saddened that the relationship is going to be ended, because we all considered Los Angeles our home, as well as New York,” said Gates. “It makes me sad that we couldn’t come to an agreement, that we couldn’t work it out--for whatever reason.”

Corry, who joined the Joffrey in 1978 after two years with Joffrey II, said Stierle’s death also served to energize the dancers, rather than to depress them--in the same way he found himself inspired when company founder Robert Joffrey died.

“There is no way in the world I could possibly describe it to you . . . I can’t describe to you how powerful it was,” Corry said. “You know, when you think you’ve really had it, you’ve run your last yard, you’ve gone your last foot--well, dance companies run marathons beyond that. I mean, it’s amazing the kind of energy you can find in circumstances like that, and it comes from inside.”

“With Eddie, its funny--it inspired the dancers more, it did not put a damper on the season,” Gates said. “If anything, we were dancing from our hearts. That was really, really hard on the company--we were performing his ballets, and he’s a really good friend of mine--everybody loves him.”

Daniel Baudendistel, who has danced for the Joffrey as well as American Ballet Theater and the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, a modern dance troupe, remains philosophical about the Music Center and Los Angeles.

“I’m not really attached to it, either way,” Baudendistel said. “The only thing I heard was that we might not be going to L.A. for financial reasons, and that might present a problem for the company. But that doesn’t really affect me. I don’t think about that.”

All three dancers believe that the Joffrey’s recent financial problems are not unique to the company, but simply reflect the general poor health of the American economy and its effect on the arts. And so far, except for an occasional delayed paycheck and less rehearsal time, the dancers say they don’t yet feel the financial pinch.

“I get my pointe shoes when I need them, and they’re clean and tidy when I put them on,” Gates said. “So, for me, it’s performance as usual.”

Baudendistel observed that experienced dancers feel less disturbed by finances than younger dancers because its easier for them to place themselves elsewhere when dance companies hit hard times. “I think it’s scary to some, I think it depends on the level of dancer you are,” he said.

“It’s very sad what’s happening in the dance world, but you have to take a few minutes to put things in perspective. It’s not just the dance world, it’s all of us. And if it means you have to cut back, you do that.”