The Joffrey Ballet: An American Classic.

The Joffrey Ballet: An American Classic Fiftieth Anniversary Commemorative Book. 160 pp. Illustrated. Hardcover. www.joffrey.com, $50 (commemorative edition, $75).

This luscious coffee-table book takes you through the long life of one of America's most innovative ballet companies, decade by decade. Leafing through the pages, one sees the early founding period, with vintage photos of Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino as vibrant young men; reconstructions of landmark works like Nijinsky's wild and raw Rile of Spring, Jooss' antiwar Green Table, and Ashton's serene Monotones; the choreographic discoveries of choreographers like Twyla Tharp and Joanna Haigood; and Arpino's signature ballets like his electric Light Rain. Also here are classics like Cranko's Romeo and Juliet, Bournonville's Flower Festival in Genzano, and Fokine's Petrouchka. And, of course, there's the sexy Billboards, to music by Prince, that saved the company financially in the 1990s. The staggering diversity of styles is represented in more than 100 stunning photographs, mostly by company photographer Herbert Migdoll. And yet certain omissions--the superb ballerinas Tina LeBlanc and Leslie Carothers, who reigned in the 1980s, are not featured at all--leave the book incomplete for long-time Joffrey watchers. Nevertheless, this is an inspiring book for the boldness, glamour, and imagination that shine out from every page.