Richelieu Zizi Repetto shoes worn by Dorothée Gilbert, photographed by James Bort
Bonjour!
Welcome back ON OFF. Lori Ann here. 👋🏼 How are we?
The exciting news is we've been so busy dancing we haven't had time to write a letter since March… Much has happened over the last six months, and, unbelievably, a whole new season of ON OFF is already approaching.
We are back Sept. 3 & 4 with our first workshop of the season: Cole Jazz (sold out).
Since there is A LOT to catch up on, we’re starting with an essay originally published in the Jerome Robbins Foundation's annual newsletter, highlighting the work we've been doing ON OFF.
Grab your Jazz Shoes (they’re trending) and Allez!
Stewarding the Legacy of Broadway Theater Dance in Paris
By Lori Ann Ferreri. This piece was originally published in The Jerome Robbins Newsletter in June 2026.
In the summer of 2000, at 18 years old, I was hired by choreographer Joey McKneely to travel to Europe to perform in West Side Story at La Scala Opera House. It was the first musical ever presented at the historic Italian institution. Despite already working professionally—I had just finished the first national tour of the Broadway musical Footloose—this was my first time in Europe, and my first experience with work that asked so much of me, specifically as an actor.
Joey McKneely had worked directly with Jerome Robbins and approached directing West Side Story from that firsthand experience. Robbins was known for pushing dancers beyond what they thought they were capable of. Joey did the same. I remember rehearsing the “Scherzo,” the ballet sequence full of relentless jetés and jumps, in a hot, European rehearsal room, in the middle of summer, getting eaten alive by mosquitos, while Joey yelled at us to jump higher! I thought my legs might fall off, but I finished that rehearsal jumping higher than I ever had in my life. Joey pushed us to turn inward, into our own interiority and emotions, to create fully realized characters, no matter how big or small our roles were. The emotions I felt dancing the choreography of West Side Story were unlike anything I had experienced onstage before.
A decade later, I returned to West Side Story as Consuela and the understudy for Anita in the first national tour of the 2009 Broadway revival, reuniting with Joey McKneely, under the direction of David Saint, and the guidance of Arthur Laurents. It was the last production Arthur worked on before he died.
In March of 2020, a fortuitous leap of faith brought me to Paris. And then the world stopped. Like many, that time was completely disorienting. Once lockdowns ended, with no friends and unable to speak French, I turned to my first language: dance. I went to class. Approaching 40, and out of the hustle of New York City, I had the space to meet the dancer I was becoming. In France, disciplines are often more categorized—ballet, contemporary, and modern dance—with fewer spaces where these worlds meet. I noticed a growing interest in comédie musicale and danse théâtre, but limited access to training and repertoire. Most dancers were learning Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse® from YouTube.
I reached out to the Jerome Robbins Foundation for permission to teach a West Side Story workshop, choreography that had bookended formative years of my life. It had been 13 years since I had danced that choreography, yet it was still living inside of me. Out of deep gratitude for what this work had given me, I passed on what I had learned with care. I pushed the dancers beyond where they thought they could go—“Jump higher!”—and the dancers loved it. This became my purpose: to steward the legacy of Broadway theater dance with a new generation of dancers in Europe. From there, ON OFF was born. My vision for ON OFF is to create a home for the transmission and development of theater dance in Europe. Last Spring, in partnership with The Verdon Fosse® Legacy, we welcomed over 100 dancers from across Europe to Paris for a three-day workshop in Fosse® technique and repertoire, led by Broadway dancers and répétiteurs Lloyd Culbreath and Dylis Croman.
In Paris, art and culture hold a central place in French life. There is a deep reverence for history, craft, and artistic practice, where new ideas can be supported and put in motion. I want ON OFF to be a space where French and international choreographers and artists can come together to study, workshop ideas, and develop new work, with community and care at the center. I am a dancer. I love dancers. In many ways, I am building the world I always wanted to dance in.
And to Joey McKneely, I am jumping higher!
You’re Invited: Digital Event + Conversation
If you've been with us ON OFF for a while, you know we love context. Of course, we have a Book Club, and our next read is Jazzed: Jack Cole and Twentieth-Century American Dance by Debra Levine, available now.
Before Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse, there was Jack Cole. Widely considered the father of American theatrical jazz dance, yet his legacy has long gone under-recognized.
Debra Levine has spent over 20 years researching Cole’s life and work. With divine timing, Jazzed was released on August 11, just as we prepare for our Cole Jazz Workshop in Paris. Required reading for our dancers!
Not in Paris? Join us ON(line) for a conversation and Q&A with Debra Levine.
Details:
Wednesday, Sept 2
7:00pm (Paris) / 1:00pm (New York) / 10:00am (Los Angeles)
Livestream
Photo: Joanna Aloysia
The State of the Jazz Shoe
Apparently, all the most stylish people are wearing jazz shoes this fall. Since we are experts on this subject, we’ve collected some links, from the originals to what’s trending on our feeds.
The French Original
The Classic
The Most Absurd and Expensive
The Everyday Jazz (I did just buy these and I’m very excited to wear them.)
None of these links are sponsored. But if you know someone in partnerships at Repetto, we would shamelessly accept an introduction. 😉
That’s all for now! As always, thanks for making it this far. Please don’t hesitate to drop us a message if you have any questions, feedback, ideas, hopes, or dreams, for ON OFF. We love hearing from you.
Have a great last week of August and more soon.
À bientôt ,
Lori Ann