A rock classic: Astarte remembered; a former member of Joffrey Ballet recalls the company's controversial 1967 multimedia ballet - how choreographer Robert Joffrey, dancers Trinette Singleton and Maximiliano Zomosa and others contributed to the creation of this work - Cover Story

Dance Magazine, August, 1994 by Christian Holder

Our first performance of Astarte that night went terrifically, and Robinson was extraordinary. Somehow, we got through all of the choreographic feats, and we were even in sync with the films. In many ways, however, the hard work really began when we returned to New York City. We would now have intensive rehearsals with Joffrey in preparation for the spring season at City Center. He made changes to suit us both, and we spent a couple of days in Compton's studio shooting the new film, which created an additional ordeal for me. At the end the man is shown walking in a daze past the parking garage next to City Center--in his briefs. I spent a freezing February midnight dashing in and out of a parked limousine so I could be filmed walking along West Fifty-sixth Street virtually naked. Huddled in a limousine I would take a swig of brandy and dash from the parked car up onto the loading dock at the rear of the theater to wait there, shivering, for Compton to yell "Action!" and then descend slowly, turn to my right, and proceed past the garage toward Sixth Avenue. Compton would yell "Cut!" and I would run back to the limo, jump inside, take another swig of brandy, and repeat the process again and again.

Robinson and I performed Astarte for the next three years. We danced it during the Joffrey's London debut at the Coliseum in 1971. There was even a layout for Playboy magazine the next year for which Robinson and I, stark naked, repeated significant poses for Herb Migdoll's camera. Then she left the company and the ballet was shelved until 1976, when Burke and Singleton, tired of her domestic life in Florida, rejoined us. Now there existed films of Singleton and Zomosa, of Singleton and Burke, and of Robinson and me. Since Robinson was no longer with us, the two options open to Joffrey were to either make a new film of Singleton and me or to return the male role to Burke and use the old film. Joffrey returned the role to Burke. After that season eighteen years ago, Astarte has not been performed again.

It was a work that made cruel demands on dancers' bodies. Because so much of the partnering was in slow motion, the woman's lower back absorbed much of the strain as she braced herself imperiously to establish leverage with her partner. Eventually Robinson would have to rush to her chiropractor after every performance; to this day she suffers from a herniated disc.

Astarte was tough on the male, too. There were one-arm press lifts, precarious balances, and quite a bit of knee work. Dancing barefoot also proved excruciating for a ballet dancer used to working in soft shoes. In many ways dancing it was like running an obstacle course. I acquired a new, more muscular physique--as well as many lower-back spasms. Burke suffered permanent knee damage.

For me, however, the memories of those demanding technical stage rehearsals on the company's days off, when Robinson, Loyd, and I had Joffrey all to ourselves, are treasurable. Though an excellent director, he all too often eluded his dancers, granting us only a fleeting glimpse of his gifts at the eleventh hour, often after a dress rehearsal of someone else's ballet. But thanks to Astarte, I worked with him for three years, one-on-one, sharing his contagious enthusiasm and benefiting from his terse, on-target advice.