Research Catalog

Title

Interview with Jerome Robbins. Dec. 5, 1988 [sound recording]

Author

Robbins, Jerome

Publication

1988.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Kroll, Jack

Description

3 sound discs (ca. 107 min.) : digital; 4 3/4in.

Summary

• Disc 1 (ca. 49 min.) [Begins abruptly.] Jerome Robbins discusses his early exposure to art, culture and dance; his modern dance training and its effect on his choreography; the choreographic process and the dancer-choreographer relationship; dancing in the corps de ballet at Ballet Theatre and working with choreographer Bronislava Nijinska; his version of the ballet Les Noces (1965) in comparison with Nijinska's; the development of his ballet role, Hermes; his use of memory to restore his choreography; his recent revival of the ballet Fancy free (1944) and the critical response; the changing vocabulary of choreography; external influences on his choreography; his inspiration for the ballet, Antique epigraphs (1984); the development of an American form of ballet; his creation of Fancy free during World War II; its costuming; more on his childhood and early development as a dancer; the influence of choreographer Senia Gluck-Sandor; performing for the Yiddish Art Theatre in Brothers Ashkenazi; his early impression of ballet; his study of ballet and other dance forms and how it led to his first job as a Broadway chorus dancer [disc ends abruptly].
• Disc 2 (ca. 48 min.) [Begins abruptly.] Robbins discusses his early work on Broadway; his ability as a performer and his various ballet roles; Mikhail Baryshnikov's dancing in contrast with Rudolph Nureyev's; more on his early ballet roles; the alliance between ballet and Broadway dancing and later specialization of the two dance forms; the work of choreographers such as Bob Fosse and Michael Bennett in relation to his own work; the genesis of Fancy free; his early forays into choreography and early interests in American literature and in painting; the World War II draft and its effect on his career; his offers to work in Hollywood and response; innovations in Broadway choreography during the 1930s and 40s; directing his first Broadway show, On the town (1945); touring with Ballet Theatre; his upcoming Broadway show and the initial audience responses during rehearsals out of town; the response to Fancy free on opening night and his reaction [disc ends abruptly].
• Disc 3 (ca. 10 min.) [Begins abruptly.] Robbins speaks about his work and life during the 1940s through early 1950s; interviewer Jack Kroll inquires about Robbins' experiences during the McCarthy era; Robbins speaks of a book he is writing which includes the subject and a brief discussion ensues [disc ends abruptly].

Donor/Sponsor

Oral History Archive.

Series Statement

Jerome Robbins Collection

Subjects

• Audiotapes > Robbins, J
• Choreography > Reconstruction
• Ballet > Production and direction
• Noces (Choreographic work : Robbins)
• Fancy free (Choreographic work : Robbins)
• Robbins, Jerome > Interviews

Note

• Interview conducted by Jack Kroll on Dec. 5, 1988 in New York, N.Y. possibly for two articles for Newsweek: "Dancing through life," and "Jerome Robbins' Broadway," Mar. 6, 1989 p. 56 and 52-54.

Access (note)

• Permission required.

Funding (note)

• Preservation made possible in part with public funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Call Number

*MGZTL 4-3092 JRC

OCLC

NYPT03-R12

Author

Robbins, Jerome, interviewee.

Title

Interview with Jerome Robbins. Dec. 5, 1988 [sound recording]

Imprint

1988.

Series

Jerome Robbins Collection

Access

Permission required.

Funding

Preservation made possible in part with public funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Local Note

Archive original: *MGZTCO 3-3092 JRC

Preservation master: *MGZTP 10-3092 JRC

Dubbing master: *MGZTD 4-3092 JRC

Local Subject

Choreography -- Reconstruction.

Audiotapes -- Robbins, J.

Added Author

Kroll, Jack, interviewer.

Research Call Number

*MGZTL 4-3092 JRC