20 Lincoln Center Plaza In 1962, Robbins directed Arthur Kopit's non-musical play Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad. He's a natural-born choreographer. Both were artists in love with classicism, trained in European traditions yet bending them to their new-world will. Two months later his Symphony No. New York, NY 10023 Published by at February 16, 2022. His work is characterized by the intensity and compactness of its expression and its wide variety of mood whether it be rhapsodic, introspective, poignant, or hilarious. by Philippe Halsman, 1959; right, director-choreographer Robbins on the set of West Side Story with Chakiris and Verso. April 30, 2013. This ballet, followed by Interplay (1945) and Facsimile (1946), was performed by Ballet Theatre, after which he embarked on a prolific and enormously successful career as a choreographer and later as a director of Broadway musicals and plays. He continued working on Broadway, as well as, staging dances for Irving Berlin's Call Me Madam, starring Ethel Merman, Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I, in which he created the celebrated "Small House of Uncle Thomas" ballet in addition to other dances, and the revue Two's Company, starring Bette Davis. Carol Lawrence, the original Maria in West Side Story, has said that Lenny would bring in new music and he would play it for us. Put them together in collaborationin masterpieces such as the joyous ballet Fancy Free, the breakaway musical On the Town, and the electrifying experiment West Side Storyand you had an ongoing theatrical Manhattan Project, work kinetically detonated, irreducibly true, and oh so American. At the age of 13, he teamed up with another young dancer, Charles Grass. Web. They invented the first tap shoes by attaching metal plates to their shoes so that the entire audience, who would sit in a colossal open-air theatre, could hear the dancesteps (1). It didnt help that in 1953, threatened by the House Un-American Activities Committee with a public outing of his homosexual relationships, Robbins named names. Jerome Robbins directs dancers in rehearsal for the stage production West Side Story (1957) by Martha Swope The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Robbins combined ballet,. A trip to Masada, in Israel, had moved him profoundly. [3] The family had many show business connections, including vaudeville performers and theater owners. In 1964 they returned to the Wilder with high hopes; Comden and Green were now on board and New York was waiting. by | Jul 3, 2022 | small rosary tattoo | Jul 3, 2022 | small rosary tattoo promo code applied. With this musical, Robbins blurred the lines between drama and dance as no one had done before. sony hdr as200v as webcam; what does john 3:36 mean; unincorporated jefferson county, alabama map; Blog Post Title February 26, 2018. You should have seen some of the scenery, gold-covered flames, and the Kabbalah stuff and the symbolism. Perhaps known under the auspice of 'Matt Mattox technique', Mattox's interpretation and approach to jazz dance has been practiced . They had in common a hatred of failure. Ad Choices. We were always embarrassed by his dancing, says his older daughter, Jamie Bernstein. Theres no explaining why he had this incredible aptitude for rhythm, but it is true that he synthesized what he got out of Hebrew cantillation, and the music and dancing in that world, combined with his getting really obsessed with what were called race records, in his college yearsBillie Holiday and Lead Bellyto say nothing of Stravinsky and Gershwin. 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. In the 1940s, their name was legally changed to Robbins. A collaboration as frequent and close as theirs is a marriage, says Sondheim. The first quintessentially American choreographer, he fulfilled the American dream without ever fitting it: a small-town boy who. Because book, music, and dance were envisioned as an organic whole, the cast, in a Broadway first, had to be equally skilled as actors, singers, and dancers. From here on, so many greats took up jazz dance, each adding their own flair and influencing the others. Jazz is so much more than sleek finger snaps, sharp hips, and jazz hands. When they first conceived the show in 1949, Robbins, Bernstein and Laurents set their story on the east side of Manhattan, and gave it the working title East Side Story. the sociopolitical similarities of Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim and to discern any possible influence those similarities had on the collaboration and the creation of the original production of West Side Story. To promote authenticity, Robbins kept the cast members for the Jets and the Sharks separated from each other during rehearsals and continuously posted news stories about gang violence on the bulletin board . The Wiz/More varied musical and dance genres used Les Misrables by Composer Claude-Michael Schonberg and lyricist Alain Boublil is based on Victor Hugo's novel of the same title. Im out in the house and even the dancers are kind of annoyed. Dance Style of Bob Fosse Fosse's unique jazz dance style was stylish, sexy, and easily recognized. Left, Philippe Halsman/Magnum Photos; Right, United Artists/Photofest, Digital Colorization by Lee Ruelle. In 1954, Robbins collaborated with George Abbott on The Pajama Game (1954), which launched the career of Shirley MacLaine, and created, choreographed, and directed the Mary Martin vehicle, Peter Pan (which he re-staged for an Emmy Award-winning television special in 1955, earning himself a nomination for best choreography). How did Jerome Robbins influence Bob Fosse? His feet press against the walls, a stride that suggests the Colossus of Rhodes. For American Ballet Theatre's twenty-fifth anniversary (1965), he staged Stravinsky's dance cantata, Les Noces, a work of shattering and immense impact. Posted on June 11, 2022 by . Jerome Robbins was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1979. Were 70 years on in the life of that ballet and it is so alive, says Damian Woetzel, the incoming president of the Juilliard School and a former principal dancer at the New York City Ballet, where he danced Robbinss own role in Fancy Free. Jerome Robbins was caught between the moon and New York City. Sondheim wrote and Robbins staged an entirely new opening number, "Comedy Tonight", which explained to the audience what was to follow, and the show played successfully from then on. The fusion of forms would be as snug as a switchblade, and the musical would move as the crow flies, direct and dark. Who did the choreography for West Side Story 1961? Perry Silvey, the longtime technical director of the New York City Ballet, remembers running a rehearsal sometime in the late 80s. Anskys play of love, death, and possession, The Dybbuk, or Between Two Worlds. Jazz originated in New Orleans in the 19th century, with some of its earliest foundations believed to have come from the music of Europe and West Africa -- an inadvertent import to American with the slave trade. All rights reserved. Additional Crew: West Side Story. May 20, 2001. In the early 1920s, the Rabinowitz family moved to Weehawken, New Jersey. He was the influencer behind huge choreographic names such as Bob Fosse, with his work reaching the likes of modern dance greats Alvin Ailey and Jerome Robbins. [4] He had an older sister, Sonia (1912-2004).[5][6][7]. Robbins died at the height of his creative powers. West Side Story was originally East Side Story. Robbins shared the Academy Award for Best Director with Robert Wise for the film version of West Side Story (1961). Among his numerous stage productions were On the Town, Peter Pan, High Button Shoes, The King and I, The Pajama Game, Bells Are Ringing, West Side Story, Gypsy, and Fiddler on the Roof. He had a sense of sizeno borders, no boundaries., They were two extraordinary balls of energy, says Guare, two spinning dynamos occupying the same space. After the triumph of Fiddler on the Roof, Mr. Robbins dedicated his energies to creating ballets for the New York City Ballet. He worked with and choreographed for the company until 1989, when he resigned from his position of co-ballet master in chief. mix of styles: in Redhead alone he incorporated elements of the ballet, jazz, march, cancan, gypsy dance, and the traditional English music-hall. . The 1980s saw an increased presence on TV as NBC aired Live From Studio 8H: An Evening of Jerome Robbins' Ballets with members of the New York City Ballet, and a retrospective of Robbins's choreography aired on PBS in a 1986 installment of Dance in America. In 1947, the photographer Irving Penn made a black-and-white portrait of a young American musician. The first program includes students from the Trudl Zipper Dance Institute, who will dance choreography by Jerome Robbins to live performances of Debussy's music. Success carried them away from Ansky and straight to On the Town. Blend of musical theatre and ballet. His downbeat, delivered against an upward thrust in the torso, has an instantaneous rebound, like that of a tennis ball, wrote the distinguished dance critic Edwin Denby. Top, from Nara Archives/Rex/Shutterstock; bottom, by Hank Walker/The Life Images Collection/Getty Images. Little did they know their partnership would make waves for decades to come. Bob Fosse is one of the most revered figures in the annals of jazz. 30 films. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. One of the most sought-after jazz dancers in Hollywood, Matt Mattox also had a significant career as a choreographer and teacher in Europe. & About Fosse and Robbins Lenny lived with arms open. Bob Fosse is a choreographer, dancer and director best known for Tony Award-winning musicals including 'Chicago' and 'Cabaret.' Add the Latin-American thread, which came in around 1941, when he was in Key West, and he just went bananas.. Jerry flipped. Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television. What are the 5 main elements of jazz music? You have the Jazz was a big hit in the early 50's and it is still a well loved style of dance all over the world. CHRISTOPHER WHEELDONChoreographerFormer Soloist, NYCBOne in a series of video interviews with people who were touched by Jerome Robbins' life.Part of the Jer. Influenced initially by the work of Jack Cole, Fred Astaire, and Jerome Robbins, Fosse was fluent in a dizzying mix of styles: in Redhead alone he incorporated elements of the ballet, jazz, march, cancan, gypsy dance, and the traditional English music-hall. Rabinowitz was so not American. Robbins recreated his stage dances for The King and I for the 1956 film version. Export: Opus Jazz and Moves. The Rabinowitz family lived in a large apartment house at 51 East 97th Street at the northeast corner of Madison Avenue. He was a director of musicals, plays, movies, and television programs. West Side Story created by Lenard Bernstein, Steven Sondheim, Arthur Laurents, and Jerome Robbins tell the story of Romeo and Juliet in 1950s New York. [10] In 1948 he added another credit to his resume, becoming co-director as well as choreographer for Look Ma, I'm Dancin'! Yet his torso twists in another direction, and his arms are held tightly behind his back, hidden as if handcuffed. The plot, about Jews living in Russia near the beginning of the 20th century, allowed Robbins to return to his religious roots. The sound was spontaneous and streetwise. When their strengths came into alignment it was like the stars To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. Robbins displayed an early interest in music, dancing, and theatrics whilst at school. But then Robbins backed away from narrative and into abstraction. It was a show, the critic Louis Biancolli wrote, planned, worked out, and delivered in a ballet key., It was audacious, says the director Harold Prince, who while still in college saw the musical nine times. While both men loved music, including the songs of the synagogue, and took pride in the accomplishments of their children (Lenny had younger siblings Shirley and Burton; Jerry an older sister, Sonia), they expected their sons to come into the family business and were horrified by the artistic ambitions blossoming in their homes. how did jerome robbins influence jazz Each man in his own right was astonishing. [14] Because he cooperated with HUAC, Robbins's career did not visibly suffer and he was not blacklisted.[15]. A journey into the world of Jerome Robbin's Broadway is more than just a trip down memory lane. Lenny and Jerry were newly minted princes of the cityNew York City, the postwar capital of the arts. Visionary, intense, and. During this decade, the influence of Latin American music and dance enriched jazz dance as was seen in the landmark Broadway production of West Side Story, choreographed by Jerome Robbins . In the same year, he also directed the opera The Tender Land by Aaron Copland. I see Fancy Free as their mighty yawp. Robbins suffered a stroke in July 1998, two months after the premiere of his re-staging of Les Noces. Lenny conducted, and his buoyant presence, that too was choreographic. The atypical nature of both the musicals that has made them . Born into a family of Russian Jewish immigrants . August 14, 2014. Few chose to go home. During the dress rehearsal of West Side Story, right under Lennys nose, Black Jerome simplified the orchestrations of Somewhere without batting an eye. Bernstein revealed a gift for lyric simplicity, and his shake-a-leg symphonism, which shot between highbrow dissonance and brash Big Band, had the glitter of mica in Big Apple sidewalks. This man, barefoot and wiry, wears a turtleneck and black tights cropped at the calf. Jerome Robbins' more jazz-based work on such shows like West Side Storyalso seems to draw from the stylization and basic foundation that Cole set forththe best example of this being, fittingly, the song "Cool." At New York City Ballet Robbins distinguished himself immediately as both dancer and choreographer. Biography. Bernstein was steeped in the classical repertory, and he was a savant when it came to rhythm. The show starred Zero Mostel as Tevye and ran for 3242 performances, setting the record (since surpassed) for longest-running Broadway show. This may be metaphorical but its the way I remember it. In 1960, Robbins co-directed, with Robert Wise, the film adaptation of West Side Story. Our father was fearless, says Alexander Bernstein. I suddenly felt at the center of a universe I could control. For Jerry, whod been playing violin and piano from the age of three and who began taking dance classes in high school, art seemed like a tunnel to me. [8] He also enlisted Oliver Smith as set designer. Ballet, tap and ballroom. It is a chance to rediscover the brilliance, the wit and . Jerome Robbins is world renowned for his work as a choreographer of ballets as well as his work as a director and choreographer in theater, movies and television. Robbins was born on the Upper East Side, where his parents owned a kosher deli, and moved as a child to New Jersey when his father decided to enter the garment trade. It spoke to their shared lineage as Russian Jews. Masters at Work: Balanchine & Robbins III, Art Series 2018: Jihan Zencirli / GERONIMO, Artistic Directors' Coalition for Ballet in America. The production ran over a year off-Broadway and was transferred to Broadway for a short run in 1963, after which Robbins directed Anne Bancroft in a revival of Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children. Jerome Robbins died on July 29, 1998 at the age of 79 after suffering a stroke, leaving behind a monumental legacy that continues to be performed and honored. Bernstein wrote the music and Smith designed the sets. Their last collaboration to see the stage was a work they had wanted to do since Fancy Frees premiere. Three of his dance trademarks included turned-in knees, sideways shuffling, and rolled shoulders. Early Life of Bob Fosse. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. He changed each of his worlds from . During this extraordinary, prolific career, Mr. Robbins served on the National Council on the Arts from 1974 to 1980, and the New York State Council on the Arts/Dance Panel from 1973 to 1988. He also directed and co-choreographed (with Bob Fosse) Bells Are Ringing (1956), starring Judy Holliday. His innovative attitude to choreography is still timeless and so are his pieces. Cast members at a party for the 1980 revival of West Side Story. The importance of the work of George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins Felicia Bernstein didnt speak to him after that, or not much, and wouldnt have him in the apartment. time. . Over the headset I said, Please, guys, keep it down. Robbins's next musical was a jazz-age fable,Billion Dollar Baby (1945). In the Middle Ages travelling minstrels and troupes of actors, dancers and singers performed popular songs and slapstick comedy. New York City Ballet and the block letter logo are registered trademarks of New York City Ballet, Inc. A look at Jerome Robbins' extraordinary body of work, bridging Broadway and ballet like no other choreographer before or since. Paul R. Laird and David Schiff. Robert Louis "Bob" Fosse was born on June 23, 1927, in Chicago, Illinois. Left, Robbins, photographed in his apartment in N.Y.C. The problem was that Jerry worked best when it was all instinct, says the playwright John Guare. What happened when Balanchine died? One such dance, later also performed in New York City at the 92nd Street Y, was Strange Fruit, set to the song of the same name sung by Billie Holiday. Jerry did not feel lovable and was deeply guarded. His first musical, On the Town, (1945), was followed by Billion Dollar Baby (1946), High Button Shoes (1947), Look, Ma, I'm Dancing (which he co-directed with George Abbott in 1948), Miss Liberty (1949), Call Me Madame (1950), and the ballet "Small House of Uncle Thomas" in The King and I (1951). By 1957, the differences between Bernstein and Robbins, which Irving Penn captured so well in those portraits of 47 and 48, were far more pronounced. Is that a cigarette butt lying on the floor? Its teamRobbins, Bernstein, book by Arthur Laurents, lyrics by the fledgling Stephen Sondheimis perhaps the most brilliant in Broadway history. 2. Robbins's primacy on Broadway and in ballet was assured; but he did more than reach the top in his two spheres of influence. Sam Bernstein did well in his own beauty-supply business, having grabbed the New England franchise for the Frederics permanent-wave machine, a device used in beauty salons, and Harry Rabinowitz, after moving the family to Weehawken, New Jersey, ran the Comfort Corset Company. And, man, you couldnt wait to go home and write after you got finished talking to Jerry. . He joined the company of Senya Gluck Sandor, a leading exponent of expressionistic modern dance; it was Sandor who recommended that he change his name to Robbins. February 26, 2020. By Ray Stubblebine/A.P. [18] Leonard Bernstein and Arthur Laurents worked with him on West Side Story only a few years after they had been blacklisted."[19]. Does the Colossus mistrust the camera or himself? This dual interest produced a staggering number of ballets and stagings of musical plays, notable for their diversity, brilliance, lyric beauty, and humor. At the height of his mastery on Broadway he insisted that his billing include a box around his name, showcasing his contribution, protecting it, arms crossed around it. They loved to break down the walls between genres, making things more fluid., Obviously, if you break boundaries, says Harold Prince, the producer of West Side Story, you want to break further and larger boundaries. Man of the Theater. His career as a gifted ballet dancer developed with Ballet Theatre where he danced with special distinction the role of Petrouchka, and character roles in the works of Fokine, Tudor, Massine, Lichine and de Mille, and of course his first choreographic sensation: During this extraordinary, prolific career, Mr. Robbins served on the National Council on the Arts from 1974 to 1980, and the New York State Council on the Arts/Dance Panel from 1973 to 1988. Asked to say his name on the first day of first grade, he began to cry. With Jerome in one of the leading roles it opened at . They planned to stage the conflict between rival Catholic and Jewish groups. West Side Story (done by Robbins) was co-choreographed by a former Fosse student. Choreography by George Balanchine The George Balanchine Trust. Director-choreographer Bob Fosse forever changed the way audiences around the world viewed dance on the stage and in the film industry in the late 20th century. A collaboration as frequent and close as theirs is a marriage, says He made is first professional appearance in August 1930, and although he had previously studied ballet, Cole was entranced by the Asian influences Denishawn utilized in its choreography and costuming. Fosse had he no reservations about drawing upon the facts of his own . His fourfold eminence as a conductor of the worlds greatest orchestras, a composer of music in myriad forms, a concert pianist, and a teacher on television and at Tanglewood added up to a matchless legacy of accessibility and eloquence, gravity and theatricality, intellectual precision and ecstatic transport. He fought his way through . Robbins was first known for his skillful use of contemporary American themes in ballets and Broadway and Hollywood musicals. It told the story of soulmates Chanon and Leah, and the mystical link between them. He continued to choreograph and stage productions for both the Joffrey Ballet and the New York City Ballet into the 1970s. I will never, never work with Jerome Robbins again, as long as I livelong pause of silencefor a while. Gerald Freedman, Robbinss assistant director on West Side Story, remembers Bernstein saying this over dinner, after the show opened. And the rhythm of your pas de deux is something startlinghard at first, but oh so danceable with the pelvis! Some friends who knew them then have said that Bernstein and Robbins had a brief affair. After graduation he went to study chemistry at New York University (NYU) but dropped out after a year for financial reasons, and to pursue dance full-time. At this time, most of Penns subjects were middle-aged and long-established, but not these two. Matt Mattox: A Dancing Life. how to get incineroar hidden ability; He established and partially endowed the Jerome Robbins Film Archive of the Dance Collection of the New York City Public Library at Lincoln Center. And despite his wit and charm after hours, Robbins at work used confrontation and cruelty to get his way. Influenced by the work of Jack Cole, Fred Astaire, and Jerome Robbins, Fosse was fluent in a dizzying mix of styles: in Redhead alone he incorporated elements of the ballet, jazz, march, cancan, gypsy dance, and the traditional English music-hall.Influenced by the work of Jack ColeJack ColeCole is credited with choreographing and/or directing . At the very least, the letters are full of excitement. As a collaborator Ive had a lot of marriages. What three dancers did Fred Astaire dance with? And it wasnt metaphorical. He performed in it when it was presented at the Metropolitan Opera as part of the Ballet Theatres 1944 season. Gene Kelly was born in the Highland Park district of Pittsburgh on August 23, 1912. Fosse was one of six children and grew up surrounded by dance and theater. As far as Im concerned, theres West Side Story and then there are musicals. This was the pinnacle of the Bernstein-Robbins enterprise. Robbins was first known for his skillful use of contemporary American themes in ballets and Broadway and Hollywood musicals. At the age of 79, six weeks after overseeing a revival of Les Noces for New York City. At their best, they completed each other. West Side Story did, however, earn Robbins his second Tony Award for choreography. He co-directed and choreographed the movie West Side Story (1960), for which he received two Academy Awards. Two more Robbins-Bernstein ballets came in 1946 and 1950Facsimile and Age of Anxiety, both psycho-analytically probingbut they are now lost. His work will continue to exist and delight us. His Broadway shows include On the Town, Billion Dollar Baby, High Button Shoes, West Side Story, The King and I, Gypsy, Peter Pan, Miss Liberty, Call Me Madam, and Fiddler on the Roof. It was too exposing. When Bernstein told People magazine, The ballet is based on our experience in Jewishness, Robbins corrected him: It isnt.. And both, in defiance of immigrant fathers who scorned the arts as a losing proposition, had their first big successes at the age of 25. There they arewhamtheyve arrived.. Unlike previous choreographers, Robbins used the natural movement of the characters as the starting point for his choreography. Serving Denver's small businesses. In 1963, Robbins asked Bernstein to help him make a musical of Thornton Wilders apocalyptic The Skin of Our Teeth. Robbins had also begun creating dances for Tamiment's Revues, some of them comic (featuring the talents of Imogene Coca and Carol Channing) and some dramatic, topical, and controversial. Both were hungry for the Big Break, but it was hard to see anything on the horizon. The third of five children, Kelly was a sports fanatic and dreamed of playing shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates. But in 1955, with gang violence making headlines, Laurents suggested a shift to rival street gangs. When they first met, 25 years later, it was the kismet of kindred spirits, their upbringings variations on a theme: middle-class, Russian-Jewish, tough love from difficult fathers who were busy achieving the American Dream. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. As Adam Green, Adolphs son, wrote in these pages, the four agreed that all the elements of the show would work as an integrated unit, with story, songs, and dancing all growing out of one another.. Lenny had a really wonderful sense of theater, but he breathed music., Still, there were crucial differences. Robbins had come to a place of peace about being a Jew. According to Dan Duell, the artistic director of Ballet Chicago, Robbins wanted to capture the rarefied atmosphere that was still alive and breathing there. Robbins said in an interview with The Christian Science Monitor: "After seeing Fleet's In, which I inwardly rejected though it gave me the idea of doing the ballet, I watched sailors, and girls, too, all over town." In 1944, flush with the future, they were both drawn backward to a Yiddish classic of 1920S. And Lenny could deliver. How did Jerome Robbins influence dance? For the movie, Robbins was brought on as a co-director with Robert Wise, taking the helm for the choreographed segments, while Wise covered the narrative scenes. Biography. [1][2], Robbins was born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz in the Jewish Maternity Hospital at 270 East Broadway on Manhattan's Lower East Side a neighborhood populated by many immigrants. Robbins insisted that the show be cast with young unknowns who could dance as well as singbecause dance is a tribal language, primal and powerful. They started, but, as often happened, other obligations got in the wayfor Lenny, the Philharmonic; for Jerry, Fiddler on the Roof. For Jerry, being Jewish brought shame and fear. He received two Academy Awards, including the 1961 Academy Award for Best Director with Robert Wise for West Side Story and a special Academy Honorary Award for his choreographic achievements on film. The show, with music by Leonard Bernstein, marked the first collaboration between Robbins and Stephen Sondheim, who wrote the lyrics, as well as Arthur Laurents, who wrote the book. Bernstein and Robbins during an N.Y.C.B. scheduled Dybbuks premiere for May 1974, expectations ran high. As we were rehearsing we keep hearing guys talking, says Silvey. It was also during this time that Matt Mattox, who had been a dancer of the Jack Cole style in many Hollywood musicals, began to develop his own teaching . The photographs on this website depict choreography copyrighted by the individual choreographers. How did Jerome Robbins influence Bob Fosse? His work continued with Two's Company (1952), Pajama Game (again co-directed with Mr. Abbott in 1954), and Peter Pan (1954), which he directed and choreographed. But he was still uncomfortable in his own skin, hot-tempered with his collaborators, and a slave driver at work, demanding every minute, every second, of time owed him. I remember touching it, he said, and that was it. No choreographer has so epitomized the American scene, or been so prolific in his expenditure of his creative energy. In 1949, a first try by Robbins, Bernstein, and the writer Arthur Laurents, which substituted Catholics and Jews for Capulets and Montagues, went nowhere. Because Robbins was touring with Ballet Theatre, much of the collaboration on Fancy Frees score took place through the mail.

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