Choreographer | Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins (1918-1998) was first known for his skillful use of contemporary American themes in ballets, and in Broadway and Hollywood musicals. He won acclaim for highly innovative ballets structured within the traditional framework of classical dance movements.
He studied a wide array of dance traditions and in 1940 he joined Ballet Theatre (now American Ballet Theatre), where he soon began dancing such important roles as Petrushka. In 1944 Robbins choreographed his first spectacularly successful ballet, Fancy Free, and later that year, in collaboration with the lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green, expanded Fancy Free into a successful Broadway musical, On the Town.
For the next phase of his career Robbins divided his time between musicals and ballet. In 1948 Robbins joined the newly founded New York City Ballet (NYCB) as both dancer and choreographer, and the following year he became its associate artistic director under George Balanchine. Robbins created many important ballets for NYCB, some of the earliest being The Cage (1951), Afternoon of a Faun (1953), and The Concert (1956). These innovative works displayed his gift for capturing the essence of a particular era through his mastery of vernacular dance styles and his understanding of gesture.
His Broadway career is well represented by West Side Story (1957), a musical that transplants the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet to the gritty milieu of rival street gangs in New York City. Robbins conceived, directed, and choreographed this work, which featured a musical score by Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and set designs by Robbins’ longtime collaborator Oliver Smith. He also directed the 1961 film (with Robert Wise), which won 10 Oscars including Best Picture. In addition he directed and choreographed the popular musicals Gypsy in 1959 and Fiddler on the Roof in 1964.
In 1969 he returned to NYCB as a Resident Choreographer and a ballet master until 1983, when he and Peter Martins became ballet masters in chief of the company shortly before Balanchine’s death. Robbins resigned as Co-Director of NYCB in 1990, though he continued to choreograph for the company. His last work, Brandenburg, premiered there in 1997, a year before his death on 29 July 1998.
