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Jerome Robbins: A Life in Dance
From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, a lively and inspired biography celebrating the master choreographer, dancer, and stage director Jerome Robbins
"A compact and incisive portrait of the great dancer and choreographer."— Kirkus Reviews
"This brisk biography . . . is light and bright, utterly persuaded by its subject and intoxicatingly in love with movement."—Helen Shaw, New York Times Book Review
Jerome Robbins (1918–1998) was born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz and grew up in Weehawken, New Jersey, where his Russian-Jewish immigrant parents owned the Comfort Corset Company. Robbins, who was drawn to dance at a young age, resisted the idea of joining the family business. In 1936 he began working with Gluck Sandor, who ran a dance group and convinced him to change his name to Jerome Robbins. He went on to become a choreographer and director who worked in ballet, on Broadway, and in film. His stage productions include West Side Story, Peter Pan , and Fiddler on the Roof. In this deft biography, Wendy Lesser presents Jerome Robbins’s life through his major dances, providing a sympathetic, detailed portrait of her subject.
About Jewish
Jewish Lives is a prizewinning series of interpretative biography designed to explore the many facets of Jewish identity. Individual volumes illuminate the imprint of Jewish figures upon literature, religion, philosophy, politics, cultural and economic life, and the arts and sciences. Subjects are paired with authors to elicit lively, deeply informed books that explore the range and depth of the Jewish experience from antiquity to the present.
In 2014, the Jewish Book Council named Jewish Lives the winner of its Jewish Book of the Year Award, the first series ever to receive this award.
More praise for Jewish
"Excellent" –New York Times
"Exemplary" –Wall Street Journal
"Distinguished" –New Yorker
"Superb" –The Guardian
"A compact and incisive portrait of the great dancer and choreographer."— Kirkus Reviews
"This brisk biography . . . is light and bright, utterly persuaded by its subject and intoxicatingly in love with movement."—Helen Shaw, New York Times Book Review
Jerome Robbins (1918–1998) was born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz and grew up in Weehawken, New Jersey, where his Russian-Jewish immigrant parents owned the Comfort Corset Company. Robbins, who was drawn to dance at a young age, resisted the idea of joining the family business. In 1936 he began working with Gluck Sandor, who ran a dance group and convinced him to change his name to Jerome Robbins. He went on to become a choreographer and director who worked in ballet, on Broadway, and in film. His stage productions include West Side Story, Peter Pan , and Fiddler on the Roof. In this deft biography, Wendy Lesser presents Jerome Robbins’s life through his major dances, providing a sympathetic, detailed portrait of her subject.
About Jewish
Jewish Lives is a prizewinning series of interpretative biography designed to explore the many facets of Jewish identity. Individual volumes illuminate the imprint of Jewish figures upon literature, religion, philosophy, politics, cultural and economic life, and the arts and sciences. Subjects are paired with authors to elicit lively, deeply informed books that explore the range and depth of the Jewish experience from antiquity to the present.
In 2014, the Jewish Book Council named Jewish Lives the winner of its Jewish Book of the Year Award, the first series ever to receive this award.
More praise for Jewish
"Excellent" –New York Times
"Exemplary" –Wall Street Journal
"Distinguished" –New Yorker
"Superb" –The Guardian
216 pages, Hardcover
Published October 9, 2018
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48 people want to read
About the author
Wendy Lesser
30 books65 followersWendy Lesser a critic, novelist, and editor based in Berkeley, California.
She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the New York Public Library's Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers.
She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the New York Public Library's Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 22, 2020
Краткая биография Джерома Роббинса в его произведениях, которая подойдет для первого знакомства с хореографом. Фактическая часть основана на двух других, гораздо более подробных исследованиях.
Обозреваются не все работы Роббинса – что понятно, с учетом их количества, - при этом выбор произведений довольно субъективен. Например, автор не останавливается детально ни на In The Night, ни на Glass Pieces, считая их проходными, зато есть отдельная глава по Age of Anxiety (который, как я поняла, не то чтобы сохранился) и по Goldberg Variations.
Тезисно, что мне показалось интересным:
1) Отношения с родителями у Р. Были непростыми, to say the least, при этом он их очень любил всю жизнь:
As a small boy, Jerry was markedly devoted to his mother, constantly seeking her approval and often failing to get it. When he made her angry, for instance, Lena would pick up the phone and fake a call: “Hello, is this the orphanage? Come and get my boy. I don’t want him any more.” He would cry and plead for her forgiveness. Once he even wrote her a profoundly creepy yet typically intelligent note of apology
2) Работать с Роббинсом было невыносимо:
HE MAY WELL have been the most hated man on Broadway. “Mean as a snake,” said Helen Gallagher, a performer who worked with him on several shows, and her words echoed the abundant testimony of others.
"because of his unending perfectionism, Jerome Robbins rehearsed forever, compared to Balanchine. “I have never spent so many hours rehearsing such a short little pas de deux,” said Peter Martins of his role in one Robbins dance. “It drove me mad. I was used to Mr. B. I mean, Balanchine would make a ballet in two rehearsals in the practice room.” But for Jerry’s little duet, “I was like two months in the main hall with Violette.”
3) В профессиональный балет пришел благодаря Русским сезонам: But then, having been given a free ticket to the Ballet Russes at the Metropolitan Opera House, he saw an electrifying performance by Alexandra Danilova in a ballet by Massine, and that permanently won him over to the beauty of the form.
4) Первая громкая работа – Fancy Free, вдохновением для которой послужила, возможно, картина Paul Cadmus The Fleet’s In
5) О работе бок о бок с Баланчиным:
“When I watch Balanchine work, it’s so extraordinary I want to give up,” he wrote in his journal in 1971
6) В НЙСБ Баланчин и Роббинс, казалось бы, были в равной степени уважаемы как творцы, однако «the difference in their informal titles—“Jerry” and “Mr. B.”—was indicative of their stature among the company members. Balanchine was the revered choreographer; Jerry was a fellow dancer who had somehow been promoted to this higher realm.
7) Баланчин был шокирован балетом «В ночи»: “Can you imagine?” he apparently barked about Robbins’s 1970 ballet In the Night. “Old man stand, and beautiful woman in beautiful dress goes down on floor. Can you imagine?!”
8) Роббинс называл «Клетку» «вторым актом «Жизели» в современном воплощении»;
9) Ему нравились артисты с хорошим драматическим даром: “He was drawn to dancers who were good actors—in City Ballet as much for Dances at a Gathering as for something like West Side Story Suite,” recalls Emily Coates, who as a young ballet dancer worked with Robbins during the last six years of his life. “You know, when the orange boy is circling the girl in yellow, and it’s very playful, it’s like there’s a theatrical impulse there that is still abstracted—motivation not in terms of character specificity, but motivation in terms of: There’s an interaction going on here.” And in Robbins’s instructions, as she recalled, “there was a lot of ‘Look at her, damn it! Where are you looking?’
10) Про Другие танцы для Макаровой и Барышникова:
To watch these two amazing dancers perform its series of virtuosic solos, bracketed by gallant, twirling duets at the beginning and end, would have been a great pleasure, of course. But these particular dancers could have created pleasure by performing the phone book, and in a way Robbins was relying too heavily on that. Danced in later years by mere mortals (even terrific mortals like Kyra Nichols and Damian Woetzel), the piece comes across as an inconsequential afterthought about Chopin’s waltzes and mazurkas
Эпилог:
“You know, Violette,” Balanchine said to her, “the real American choreographer at the New York City Ballet is Jerry, not me. He’s the one who can capture the fashions, the trends, the relaxed character of American dancers, their lack of a past or a style, but an ability to do all they’re asked to do without discussion or preconception.”
Обозреваются не все работы Роббинса – что понятно, с учетом их количества, - при этом выбор произведений довольно субъективен. Например, автор не останавливается детально ни на In The Night, ни на Glass Pieces, считая их проходными, зато есть отдельная глава по Age of Anxiety (который, как я поняла, не то чтобы сохранился) и по Goldberg Variations.
Тезисно, что мне показалось интересным:
1) Отношения с родителями у Р. Были непростыми, to say the least, при этом он их очень любил всю жизнь:
As a small boy, Jerry was markedly devoted to his mother, constantly seeking her approval and often failing to get it. When he made her angry, for instance, Lena would pick up the phone and fake a call: “Hello, is this the orphanage? Come and get my boy. I don’t want him any more.” He would cry and plead for her forgiveness. Once he even wrote her a profoundly creepy yet typically intelligent note of apology
2) Работать с Роббинсом было невыносимо:
HE MAY WELL have been the most hated man on Broadway. “Mean as a snake,” said Helen Gallagher, a performer who worked with him on several shows, and her words echoed the abundant testimony of others.
"because of his unending perfectionism, Jerome Robbins rehearsed forever, compared to Balanchine. “I have never spent so many hours rehearsing such a short little pas de deux,” said Peter Martins of his role in one Robbins dance. “It drove me mad. I was used to Mr. B. I mean, Balanchine would make a ballet in two rehearsals in the practice room.” But for Jerry’s little duet, “I was like two months in the main hall with Violette.”
3) В профессиональный балет пришел благодаря Русским сезонам: But then, having been given a free ticket to the Ballet Russes at the Metropolitan Opera House, he saw an electrifying performance by Alexandra Danilova in a ballet by Massine, and that permanently won him over to the beauty of the form.
4) Первая громкая работа – Fancy Free, вдохновением для которой послужила, возможно, картина Paul Cadmus The Fleet’s In
5) О работе бок о бок с Баланчиным:
“When I watch Balanchine work, it’s so extraordinary I want to give up,” he wrote in his journal in 1971
6) В НЙСБ Баланчин и Роббинс, казалось бы, были в равной степени уважаемы как творцы, однако «the difference in their informal titles—“Jerry” and “Mr. B.”—was indicative of their stature among the company members. Balanchine was the revered choreographer; Jerry was a fellow dancer who had somehow been promoted to this higher realm.
7) Баланчин был шокирован балетом «В ночи»: “Can you imagine?” he apparently barked about Robbins’s 1970 ballet In the Night. “Old man stand, and beautiful woman in beautiful dress goes down on floor. Can you imagine?!”
8) Роббинс называл «Клетку» «вторым актом «Жизели» в современном воплощении»;
9) Ему нравились артисты с хорошим драматическим даром: “He was drawn to dancers who were good actors—in City Ballet as much for Dances at a Gathering as for something like West Side Story Suite,” recalls Emily Coates, who as a young ballet dancer worked with Robbins during the last six years of his life. “You know, when the orange boy is circling the girl in yellow, and it’s very playful, it’s like there’s a theatrical impulse there that is still abstracted—motivation not in terms of character specificity, but motivation in terms of: There’s an interaction going on here.” And in Robbins’s instructions, as she recalled, “there was a lot of ‘Look at her, damn it! Where are you looking?’
10) Про Другие танцы для Макаровой и Барышникова:
To watch these two amazing dancers perform its series of virtuosic solos, bracketed by gallant, twirling duets at the beginning and end, would have been a great pleasure, of course. But these particular dancers could have created pleasure by performing the phone book, and in a way Robbins was relying too heavily on that. Danced in later years by mere mortals (even terrific mortals like Kyra Nichols and Damian Woetzel), the piece comes across as an inconsequential afterthought about Chopin’s waltzes and mazurkas
Эпилог:
“You know, Violette,” Balanchine said to her, “the real American choreographer at the New York City Ballet is Jerry, not me. He’s the one who can capture the fashions, the trends, the relaxed character of American dancers, their lack of a past or a style, but an ability to do all they’re asked to do without discussion or preconception.”
November 19, 2018
This is a must-read for any ballet fan. The author does a fantastic job of telling the life of Jerome Robbins life through his choreography, particularly the ballets he created for NYC Ballet. I've read a lot about Jerome Robbins in other books and I found I learned a lot more about his through this novel. It's obvious the author spent a lot of time researching all aspects for his life. I do wish this book had more chapters with other ballets he created that are still frequently apart of NYC ballet's rep. I would have loved for there to be more written about works like Glass Pieces, Interplay, Opus Jazz, etc.
January 11, 2019
Wow. Picked this one based on the title and the cover without any inkling of what to expect. The fluidity and crisp, vivid style of Wendy Lesser's writing brought to life Jerome Robbins journey and choreography. The brilliance and suffering, highs and lows are all woven intricately through beautiful storytelling. Although I'm not a visual person, the writing conjured up all these images and imagination. I could feel and visualize the performances described in the book. Checked out some of the productions on youtube later and book does it total justice with a deep insight into the making of some of them. What a gem!
September 2, 2019
This is a kind of biography-lite of Robbins, and views him through the lens of his most famous pieces of choreography which is an interesting way to see him. I had read a much bigger bio of him before so a lot of this wasn't new, but I did appreciate the way that Lesser did not impose current modes of thinking on his work, which was from a specific time, nor on his behavior, which was notoriously kind of awful/borderline abusive. As a frequent audience member at NYCB where his works are regularly performed, I view him as one of our most treasured geniuses of dance, and feel lucky to witness his creations on a regular basis.
February 2, 2020
A short, but wonderful biography of one of the greatest choreographers Broadway and the New York City Ballet has ever seen. Witness the creation of iconic dances from West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof etc. plus some of his ballets. Watch some of these dances on You Tube as you read the book.
This is the second book I have read in the Yale University Press Jewish Lives Series. I recommend looking at other books in this series.
This is the second book I have read in the Yale University Press Jewish Lives Series. I recommend looking at other books in this series.
August 27, 2025
I gave up after the West Side Story chapter. Lesser's trivialization of Robbins's Broadway work is very problematic; so too are the numerous errors and unsupported biases. For just one example: to state not once but twice that Robbins based "Gypsy" on his own life--as if he were even the main creator of "Gypsy" in a position to do such a thing (surely Laurents was the author here)--is ridiculous and obviously untrue.
December 1, 2019
I knew nothing about Robbins other than his involvement in West Side Story before reading this short biography in the Yale Jewish Lives series. The author looked at Robbins' Jewish angst and his homosexuality until he became a successful and wealthy choreographer--then all else was forgotten. Moderate interesting book, though I still find dance a mystery.
September 21, 2023
The material and life story of Jerome Robbins was great. However, the organization was not consistent and I often had to re-read multiple sections to understand how the content fit into the timeline of his life.
March 30, 2019
The ending of this book has me planning a trip to New York!
August 22, 2019
closer to a 3.5, mostly because Lesser takes over with her own commentary and views a little too often, taking away from the subject himself
June 26, 2022
I really enjoyed learning about Robbins' biggest works and his personal life! This is a bit of an academic book, but worth the read.
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January 22, 2019792.82092 R634w 2018
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews