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Jerome Robbins
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When Jerome Robbins' first ballet, Fancy Free was premiered on April, 18, 1944, it proved to be one of the most exciting evenings in the history of Ballet in America, marking the emergence of so many new American talents. Jerome Robbins, a original member of American Ballet Theatre, had created the choreography while on a coast-to-coast tour with the company, working closely through correspondence with a young, unknown composer in New York. The composer, Leonard Bernstein, sprang into national prominence shortly before the premiere of Fancy Free when he stepped in at the last moment and, without rehearsal, conducted the New York Philharmonic as a substitute for the ailing Bruno Walter. The last of the triumverate of twenty-five year old collaborators was Oliver Smith whose set for the ballet was the first of a series of brilliant designs executed for American Ballet Theatre's contemporary repertory. The ballet ... brought to the forefront six of the company's junior soloists who comprised the original cast: John Kriza, Janet Reed, Jerome Robbins, Muriel Bentley, Harold Lang, and Shirley Eckl. Following the success of the ballet, it was translated into a musical comedy entitled On The Town, which in turn was adapted for the screen with Gene Kelly as the star.
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To some, Jerome Robbins was a demanding perfectionist, a driven taskmaster, a theatrical visionary; to others, he was a loyal friend, a supportive mentor, a generous and entertaining companion and colleague. Born Jerome Rabinowitz in New York City in 1918, Jerome Robbins repudiated his Jewish roots along with his name only to reclaim them with his triumphant staging of Fiddler on the Roof. A self-proclaimed homosexual, he had romances or relationships with both men and women, some famous—like Montgomery Clift and Natalie Wood—some less so. A resolutely unpolitical man, he was forced to testify before Congress at the height of anti-Communist hysteria. A consummate entertainer, he could be paralyzed by shyness; nearly infallible professionally, he was conflicted, vulnerable, and torn by self-doubt. Guarded and adamantly private, he was an inveterate and painfully honest journal writer who confided his innermost thoughts and aspirations to a remarkable series of diaries and memoirs. With ballets like Dances at a Gathering, Afternoon of a Faun, and The Concert, he humanized neoclassical dance; with musicals like On the Town, Gypsy, and West Side Story, he changed the face of theater in America.
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In theatre, dance and film, Jerome Robbins had one of the most significant and sustained creative careers of the 20th century. His ability to convey emotion and drama through movement is unrivalled and his artistic breakthroughs in form and content in these media are now seen everywhere. This illustrated book of his life and work is a visual exploration and evocation of a creative journey.
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Jerome Robbins received world renown as a choreographer of ballets created for the New York City Ballet, Ballets U.S.A., American Ballet Theatre and other international companies. He received equal kudos for his work in commercial theater -- Broadway. He was a director of musicals, plays, movies and television programs. This dual interest produced a staggering number of ballets and stagings of musical plays, notable for their diversity, brilliance, lyric beauty and humor. His work is characterized by the intensity and compactness of its expression, its wide variety of mood, whether it be rhapsodic, introspective, poignant or hilarious. He had the ability to make the most complex movement appear effortless, and totally reflective of the musical score, as if it were created spontaneously for that exact period of time.
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On July 29th, 1998, Jerome Robbins died of a stroke in his home in New York City. He was one of the first great American-born ballet masters and ... a major Broadway and film choreographer, winning four Tony Awards and two Academy Awards.
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II's opulent Best Picture-nominated film (with choreography by Jerome Robbins) was an adaptation of their own 1951 Broadway musical version. An earlier non-musical film Anna and the King of Siam (1946) starred Rex Harrison and Irene Dunne, remade as Anna and the King (1999) with Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat.
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Jerome Robbins