ARPINO, GERALD

born Jan. 14, 1928, Staten Island, N.Y., U.S. in full Gerald Peter Arpino American ballet choreographer, a leader of the Joffrey Ballet from its founding in 1956. While serving in the U.S. Coast Guard (194548), Arpino met dancer Robert Joffrey in Seattle, Wash., and learned dancing in his spare time. Later, after training and performing in New York City, he toured with the Ballet Russe and appeared in Broadway musicals. He helped Joffrey to found the Joffrey Ballet in 1956, and in 1961 he offered his first choreography, Partita for 4 and Ropes. Over the years he became known for his hard, fast, youthful ballets. He became associate director of the company and then its artistic director after the death of Joffrey in 1988. He continued to hold that position except for a period from May to November 1990 in a budgetary and factional dispute with the board of directors.