Torey Wyman

On February 20 and 21, the Joffrey Concert Group marked its 45th anniversary with In My Art, an evening of new and commissioned works performed at the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater. The milestone was celebrated not only onstage but off, with an opening-night fundraising reception supporting the organization’s Creative Movers Choreographic Initiative (CMCI), a program designed to champion the next generation of dance makers.

“For 45 years, this organization has stood for rigorous training, bold choreography, and a belief that young artists deserve both opportunity and excellence,” said Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer Bradley Shelver. “As we celebrate the past, I’m equally focused on the next 45 years. The future of dance depends not only on innovation in choreography, but on sustainability in the lives of the artists who bring that work to life. Our CMCI is central to that future. It’s about authorship, voice, and giving the next generation of makers the space to experiment and to lead.”

The program opened with When the Water Breaks, a meditation on aquatic life and environmental fragility. Set to an original score by David K. Israel and commissioned by Vildwerk, a company dedicated to inspiring conservation awareness through movement, the piece drew inspiration from the mission of the World Wildlife Fund. Dancers in vivid leotards moved through a soundscape of bubbling water and spare piano, their choreography fluid yet sharply defined, evoking both the serenity and volatility of the natural world. Company members were joined by select trainees from the Joffrey Ballet School, reinforcing the evening’s intergenerational spirit.

Ken Ossola’s Of Light, his first collaboration with JCG, shifted the atmosphere toward the digital present. The work probed society’s growing intimacy with artificial intelligence and technology. Our fascination with systems that simulate emotion and connection. Through stark staging and deliberate movement, the dancers embodied both the allure and unease of forming relationships with entities that were never human to begin with. 

In By Any Other Name, choreographer Clifford Williams turned inward, offering an exploration of love in its many forms. The piece unfolded as a study in emotional duality—joy and betrayal, curiosity and heartbreak—mirroring the complexities of lived experience. It was a portrait of love “by any other name,” suggesting that while labels may change, the core impulses of longing and acceptance remain constant. The dancers navigated vulnerability with restraint, allowing silence and stillness to amplify the emotional stakes.

The evening concluded with Stolen Moments, a sweeping meditation that felt like paging through the memoirs of countless lives. The choreography examined how easily one’s spark can be dimmed by circumstances. How isolation can persist even in crowded rooms. There was an undercurrent of quiet resilience as bodies reached for connection in shared darkness. The work left the audience suspended in collective stillness, seen and seeing at once.

At its core, the Creative Movers Choreographic Initiative is more than a development program. By focusing on contemporary, modern, and contemporary ballet choreographers from New York and the tristate area, it strikes a deliberate balance between accessibility and artistic rigor. Unlike many emerging artist initiatives that end in workshop showings, CMCI guarantees its choreographers a professional stage and a live audience which is an essential step toward artistic credibility and career momentum.

By intermission, the necessity of such work felt undeniable. In a world marked by technological acceleration and social fragmentation, art that engages directly with the present moment is not a luxury but a need.

Across two nights, In My Art became more than an anniversary program. It was a reflection on empathy, humanity, and the sustaining power of movement. In championing bold and diverse voices, JCG affirmed that the future of dance depends not only on innovation, but on investing in the artists courageous enough to shape it.