Herbert Migdoll, Visionary Artist and Longtime Joffrey Ballet Photographer, Dies at 90
Herbert Migdoll, the visionary artist and prolific photographer behind the Joffrey Ballet’s most iconic imagery for more than five decades, has died at 90. He passed away in New York City on April 19, weeks following a stroke.
Migdoll’s connection to the Joffrey Ballet began in the 1960s with a chance encounter in a New York pharmacy with Robert Joffrey, the company’s co-founder. They mutually shared an interest in the Greenwich Village arts scene, which blossomed into a long-term relationship. Migdoll joined the Joffrey Ballet in 1968 and quickly became a part of its artistic structure.
When the company transferred from New York to Los Angeles, and then ultimately Chicago in 1995, Migdoll was a constant presence. Both co-founder Gerald Arpino and Robert Joffrey were both long dead by then, so Migdoll was one of the few remaining links to the ballet’s early days.
“Herb really gave the company continuity—he was a significant anchor, so much a part of the DNA,” former Joffrey executive director Christopher Clinton Conway said.
Famous for his endless energy, Migdoll was ubiquitous at rehearsals and performances. Huddled in the wings, or soaring above in the rafters, he was always there with his camera, capturing the athleticism and beauty of Joffrey dancers. His photographs graced the covers of The New York Times, Time, Life, and Dance Magazine.
Though best known as a photographer, Migdoll was an interdisciplinary artist by nature. Working out of his West Side Chicago studio, he combined photography and painting into forceful visual art. His work has been exhibited at the Chicago Cultural Center and resides in the Museum of Modern Art’s collection in New York.
One of his most complicated public works, his 2002 mural Swimmers, stretched 275 feet along the north bank of the Chicago River. It was made up of enlarged photographs of Joffrey dancers in the water, printed on vinyl mesh and enhanced by splashes of silver paint—meant to approximate the sensation of water in motion, not bodies moving.
Ashley Wheater, the artistic director of the Joffrey, described Migdoll as a pioneer who was continually looking for new ways of conveying movement and beauty. “He’s certainly left an indelible mark,” Wheater said.
Migdoll had a gift for modestly discovering beauty in unorthodox forms. Former Joffrey principal dancer Fabrice Calmels, who is unusually tall for a ballet dancer, attributed Migdoll with making what could have been a weakness into a point of artistic strength.
“He was an artist above all else,” Calmels said. “He perceived what he believed was beautiful and presented it to the rest of us.”
His humility and warmth left a lasting impression with the individuals with whom he worked. “He wasn’t ever a jerk; he loved everybody and treated everybody with the utmost respect and love,” Calmels added. Retired dancer Charthel Arthur Estner affectionately called him “a sweet man, like a little gnome,” giving away that the face of the Nutcracker doll in the Joffrey’s long-running production was inspired by Migdoll’s.
Offstage, his adventures were the stuff of legend. A former Joffrey carpenter, Keith Prisco, recalled Migdoll convincing Playboy magazine to feature Joffrey dancers in Jamaica. “They drank too much and took barely any photographs,” Prisco declared, “but Herb took them at the eleventh hour in a pool of lilies—and Playboy loved it.”
Born May 11, 1934, in Jersey City, New Jersey, Migdoll studied at Pratt Institute for an architecture degree, transferring to painting at The Cooper Union. He also studied at NYU and MIT. Though given a Fulbright grant to study photography in Denmark, he declined, choosing instead to absorb the rich bohemian culture of New York during the 1960s.
His most famous photo—a sensual, expressive portrait from the Joffrey’s production of Astarte—adorned the cover of Time magazine in 1968. Editors told Migdoll that the photo would only appear if former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, then gravely ill, survived the week. Migdoll and Joffrey reportedly spent nights praying for Eisenhower’s survival. He survived and the photo appeared.
Migdoll’s inventiveness extended past ballet photography—he captured the feeling, discipline, and spirit of the Joffrey Ballet for years to come. As Nick Gibson, former audio engineer for the company, recalled: “He was a fine artist who imitated a photographer.”
Herbert Migdoll’s lens didn’t just document dance; he documented the very spirit of an era and of a company.
