Playing It Safe? Not At The Joffrey, Please.

The Joffrey Ballet’s new director took his first bows this week, and while Ashley Wheater may have a long and successful tenure ahead, Sid Smith was disturbed that he chose to introduce himself to Chicago’s innovative and risk-taking company by staging one of the oldest and safest ballets available. “Resident ballet troupes can always use a Giselle, and now the Joffrey has a perfectly respectable version. But one hopes Wheater, when forging ahead, will lean more toward the electricity generated by the likes of last season’s Cinderella, rekindling the flair and imagination that make Joffrey selections unpredictable and special.”