Happy Birthday, Jerome Robbins! Born today in 1918 as Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz, this American dancer, choreographer, theater producer and director also worked on stage, in classical ballet, television and film.
Robbins was born in the Jewish Maternity Hospital at 270 East Broadway on Manhattan's Lower East Side – a neighborhood populated by many immigrants.
Known as "Jerry" to those close to him, Robbins was given the middle name Wilson reflecting his parents' patriotic enthusiasm for the then-Commander in Chief, 28th U.S. President Woodrow Wilson.
In the early 1920s, the Rabinowitz family moved to Weehawken, New Jersey. The family had many show business connections, including vaudeville performers and theater owners. In the 1940s, their name was legally changed to Robbins.
Robbins began studying modern dance in high school with Alys [CK] Bentley, who encouraged her pupils to improvise steps to music. Said Robbins later: "What [she] gave me immediately was the absolute freedom to make up my own dances without inhibition or doubts."
After graduation, Robbins went to study chemistry at New York University but dropped out after a year for financial reasons. Afterwards, he went on to pursue dance full-time.
He later joined the company of American dancer, actor, mime, producer, painter, and teacher Senia Gluck Sandor, a leading exponent of expressionistic modern dance; it was Sandor who recommended that he change his name to Robbins.
Sandor also encouraged Robbins to take ballet, in addition he studied Spanish dance, Asian dance, and dance composition with the highly influential German dancer, choreographer and teacher of the 20th century Bessie Schonberg.
In 1940, Robbins joined Ballet Theatre (later known as American Ballet Theatre).
From 1941 through 1944, Robbins was a soloist with the company. While there, he gained notice for his various roles.
At his last year there, Robbins conceived the ballet Fancy Free, which he had set to Leonard Bernstein's music. It was first produced on Broadway later that same year.
Five years later, his ballet was made into the 1949 American Technicolor musical/comedy film 'On the Town'. It was directed by Gene Kelly (who also co-starred) and Stanley Donen ('Singin' in the Rain', 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers').
The following year, 'On the Town' won an Oscar for Best Original Music. This occurred at the 22nd Academy Awards in late March 1950.
Later that same year, Robbins was called to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), suspected of Communist sympathies.
Robbins, though willing to confess to past party membership, resisted naming names of others with similar political connections; he held out for three years until, according to two family members in whom he confided, he was threatened with public exposure of his homosexuality.
Robbins named the names of persons he said were Communists, including Broadway playwright Edward Chodorov, his brother. Because he cooperated with HUAC, Robbins' career did not visibly suffer and he was not blacklisted.
In the early 1960s, Robbins co-directed, alongside American film director, producer, and editor Robert Wise the film of which Robbins is best known.
This was the 1961 American Technicolor musical/romance drama film 'West Side Story'. However, Robbins was fired from the production as soon as principal photography was complete.
The cause was that, after about forty-five days of shooting, he was fired when the production was considered twenty-four days behind schedule.
Despite this, 'West Side Story, went on to receive eleven Oscar nominations, but won ten, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (George Chakiris) and Best Supporting Actress (Rita Moreno). The film also became the record holder for the most wins for a musical.
Of these, Robbins won two Oscars. The fist for Best Director (the first time a directing award is being shared).
The second was an Honorary Award for his brilliant achievements in the art of choreography on film. This occurred at the 34th Academy Awards in early April 1962.
Robbins was only the second director to win the Oscar for Best Director for a film debut. This was after American television and film director Delbert Mann for his 1955 American black and white romance/drama film 'Marty'.
Upon release, 'West Side Story' received high praise from critics and viewers, and became the highest-grossing film of 1961.
That same year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored Robbins with a special award for his choreographic achievements on film.
The original 1957 Broadway production, conceived, directed and choreographed by Robbins. The production also marked Sondheim's Broadway debut.
It ran for seven hundred and thirty-two performances before going on tour. It even had an even longer-running London production, a number of revivals and international productions.
The production was nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Musical in 1958, but the award for Best Musical went to Meredith Wilson's The Music Man. Nonetheless, Robbins won the Tony Award for his choreography.
'West Side Story' was adapted from the Broadway musical stage production of the same name by American stage director and screenwriter Arthur Laurents, of which had been inspired by William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
The score was written by Bernstein and the lyrics were provided by American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim.
In 1979, Robbins was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame by the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA).
Following a bicycle accident in 1990 and heart-valve surgery in 1994, in 1995, Robbins instructed the directors of his foundation to establish a prize for "some really greatly outstanding person or art institution. The prizes should "lean toward the arts of dance ..."
In 1996, Robbins began showing signs of a form of Parkinson's disease, and his hearing was quickly deteriorating. He nevertheless staged Igor Stravinsky's "Les Noces" ("The Wedding") for City Ballet on May 20, 1998. This was Robbins' last project.
In 1997, 'West Side Story' was deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and was selected for the National Film Registry.
Robbins suffered a stroke in July 1998, two months after the premiere of his re-staging of "Les Noces". He later passed at his home in Manhattan, New York City, New York on July 29, 1998. Robbins was 79.
On the evening of his death, the lights of Broadway were dimmed for moment in tribute. He was later cremated, and his ashes were scattered on the Atlantic Ocean.
In 2006, 'On the Town' ranked in at #19 on the American Film Institute's list of Best Musicals.
In 2018, 'On the Town' was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
In 2021, Rita Moreno will appear in Steven Spielberg's adaptation of 'West Side Story'. Rather than playing Anita, Moreno will appear as Valentina, of whom provides guidance to the young people in the film.
According to Robbin's personal life, he had had relationships with a number of people, from American actor Montgomery Clift and American prima-ballerina Nora Kaye to American dancer Buzz Miller and American photographer Jesse Gerstein.
One of the most popular and imaginative American choreographers of the 20th century, Robbins was first known for his skillful use of contemporary American themes in ballets and Broadway and Hollywood musicals.
Throughout his career, Robbins had won acclaim for highly innovative ballets structured within the traditional framework of classical dance movements.
One of Broadway and Hollywood's greatest choreographers, Robbins helped change the face of modern dance with his breathtaking ballets and spectacular stage productions.
It had been Robbins' extraordinary body of work bridged Broadway and ballet like no other choreographer before or since.
Robbins had been active from 1937–1998.
#borntodance
#borntodirect
@libraryofcongress
@AmericanFilmInstitute
@tcm
@TheGeniusOfJeromeRobbins
@JeromeRobbinsDanceDivision
@AmericanTheatreCritics
@AmericanBalletTheatre
@nycballet
@nytimes
@Biography
@Britannica
No comments:
Post a Comment