Research Catalog

Title

Letter to Bernard Perlin. [sound recording]

Author

Robbins, Jerome.

Publication

1961.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Perlin, Bernard, 1918-

Description

1 sound disc (ca. 20 min.) : digital; 4 3/4 in.

Summary

• In a letter to Bernard Perlin, Jerome Robbins outlines his theory of ballet choreography. Robbins discusses the use of ballet technique in jazz dancing; the role of the choreographer as opposed to the dancer in expressing a dance's inventiveness; how choreographers such as George Balanchine and Michel Fokine demonstrate movement to dancers; his inability to understand his own influence on American dance; the perception of him as a "jack-of-all-trades" and the relationship between his ballet Moves (1959) and his work on Broadway in Gypsy (1959); the creative freedom of the choreographer in inverse proportion to how much money is involved in a project; his working process in comparison with Balanchine's; the presence of leftover material each time he choreographs a work; his experience choreographing the second section of his jazz ballet, New York export: opus jazz (1958).
• The choreographer's challenge to say something new and to communicate with the audience; Robbins' choreographic process; his use of a detailed scenario for the ballet, Fancy free (1944) and his current work without scenarios; ballet as ritual that tells a story with movement. Robbins describes his ballets, Moves, Afternoon of a faun (1953), Opus jazz, and The concert (1956) as presented by his company, Ballets: U.S.A. during its European tour in 1959; more on ballet as ritual and the choreographer's effect on the audience, including the feeling of being guided by a "master's hand".

Series Statement

Jerome Robbins Collection

Alternative Title

Dance Audio Archive.

Subjects

• Audiotapes > Robbins, J
• Choreography > Philosophy
• Balanchine, George
• Choreography > United States > 20th century
• Robbins, Jerome > Contributions in ballet
• Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.)

Note

• Letter recorded in Feb. 1961, dictated to Robbins' secretary, Edith Weisman.

Access (note)

• Permission required.

Funding (note)

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

Source (note)

• WNET/13

Call Number

*MGZTL 4-3292 JRC

OCLC

NYPT04-R169

Author

Robbins, Jerome.

Title

Letter to Bernard Perlin. [sound recording]

Imprint

1961.

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

For transcript of full recording as well as a transcript (per Amanda Vaill's notes) of a short excerpt, 12:32-13:37, of the audio recording, see *MGZMT 3-3292 JRC. The full transcript was created by The Jerome Robbins Foundation in 2017. The excerpt was created by WNET/13 in connection with the documentary: Jerome Robbins: Something to dance about.

Archival transcript: *MGZMTO 3-3292 JRC

Archive original: *MGZT0 5-3292 JRC

Preservation master: *MGZTP 10-3292 JRC

Dubbing master: *MGZTD 4-3292 JRC

Source

Transcript Gift; WNET/13, 2008. NN-PD

Connect to:

Request Access to Special Collections (Dance Division) material

Local Subject

Audiotapes -- Robbins, J.

Added Author

Perlin, Bernard, 1918- Correspondent

Research Call Number

*MGZTL 4-3292 JRC