Review: PBS documentary on Joffrey Ballet

The troupe -- always identified as the kickier third company after New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre -- was known for its eclectic pop-classic repertory, broad range of dancer bodies and a so-called youth vibe that both supported and chased after trends. Joffrey had the first major multimedia ballet, Arpino's "Astarte," introduced downtown radical Twyla Tharp and the Beach Boys to uptown with "Deuce Coupe" and pioneered the invaluable reconstruction of such European masterworks as "The Green Table" (anti-war German Expressionism by Kurt Jooss) and "Parade" (cubist collaboration between Picasso, Cocteau, Stravinsky and Massine).

With today as a framework, the history might have felt more like part of a vibrant story and less like ancient catch-up. Also, the emphasis on the Joffrey as the source of the first truly American ballets is nonsense. Tell that to Agnes de Mille, Jerome Robbins and, even with his Russian foundation, George Balanchine.

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