Robbins, Jerome

orig. Jerome Rabinowitz

(born Oct. 11, 1918, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died July 29, 1998, New York City) U.S. dancer, choreographer, and director. He joined Ballet Theatre (later American Ballet Theatre) as a dancer in 1940. His first choreographic success was (set to a musical score by Leonard Bernstein), which was expanded into the musical (1944). He joined the New York City Ballet in 1948 and soon became associate director (1950–59), creating many works for the company. For the Broadway stage he choreographed successful musicals such as (1951; film, 1956), (1957; film, 1961), (1959; television, 1993), and (1964). Returning to the New York City Ballet, he was resident choreographer and ballet master (1969–83) and then codirector with Peter Martins until retiring in 1990. His choreography is marked by a blend of modern, academic, and popular dance styles in a variety of American idioms.

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