The Joyce Theater is recorded as the setting for an evening of ballet in which a performance by Robert LaFosse left a stronger impression than the production around him. The diary places the theater within Warhol’s wider engagement with dance: the same evening also involved plans to discuss a curtain commission with people from the New York City Ballet.

A performance venue

Tickets had been set aside for Warhol to see Robert LaFosse make a guest appearance in a ballet by Karole Armitage. David Salle had designed the costumes for the production and was identified as its artistic director. The visit brought together performance, choreography, and visual design in a single evening, though the diary gives no further description of the theater itself.

The evening at the theater

Warhol went to the Joyce Theater with Tama Janowitz, who had come from Princeton. The tickets had cost $40. He judged the production poor, but singled out LaFosse as highly professional, distinguishing the dancer’s performance from his unfavorable response to the overall show.

Dance and a proposed commission

The theater visit was part of a night organized around dance beyond the performance itself. Paige had arranged a later dinner with people from the New York City Ballet to discuss a curtain Warhol was being asked to design. After the ballet, however, he felt unable to face dinner and went home instead. The diary thus links the Joyce Theater both to a specific live performance and to a prospective design commission, while recording that the planned conversation did not take place that night.