Research Catalog
Jerome Robbins interviewed by Deborah Jowitt
- Title
- Jerome Robbins interviewed by Deborah Jowitt [electronic resource].
- Publication
- 1995.
Available Online
Details
- Additional Authors
- Description
- 2 streaming video files (108 min.) : sd., col.
- Summary
- Interview conducted for Kennedy Center's Oral History Archive. Jerome Robbins (1918-1998) looks back on his multifaceted career as dancer, choreographer, and stage and film director.
- Donor/Sponsor
- Gift of New York City Ballet.
- Subjects
- Villella, Edward, 1936-
- Pulcinella (Choreographic work : Balanchine and Robbins)
- Firebird (Choreographic work : Balanchine and Robbins)
- Antique epigraphs (Choreographic work : Robbins)
- Tharp, Twyla
- Ives, songs (Choreographic work : Robbins)
- Le Clercq, Tanaquil
- American Theatre Laboratory (New York, N.Y.)
- Fokine, Michel, 1880-1942
- Bernstein, Leonard, 1918-1990
- Dance
- Musical comedies > Jerome Robbins' Broadway
- Dybbuk (Choreographic work : Robbins)
- Tudor, Antony, 1909-1987
- Video
- 2 & 3 part inventions (Choreographic work : Robbins)
- New York City Ballet
- Musical comedies > Fiddler on the roof
- Prodigal son (Choreographic work : Balanchine)
- Watermill (Choreographic work : Robbins)
- Robbins, Jerome > Interviews
- Musical comedies > West side story
- In memory of ... (Choreographic work : Robbins)
- Tyl Ulenspiegel (Choreographic work : Balanchine)
- Guests (Choreographic work : Robbins)
- Hübbe, Nikolaj
- Fancy free (Choreographic work : Robbins)
- Baryshnikov, Mikhail, 1948-
- West Side story (Motion picture)
- West Side story suite (Choreographic work : Robbins)
- Nichols, Kyra
- Ballet Theatre (New York, N.Y.)
- Gluck-Sandor, Senia
- Cage (Choreographic work : Robbins)
- Balanchine, George
- Farrell, Suzanne, 1945-
- Choreographers > United States > 20th century > Interviews
- Reich, Steve, 1936-
- Afternoon of a faun (Choreographic work : Robbins)
- Brahms/Handel (Choreographic work : Robbins and Tharp)
- Glass, Philip
- Harlequinade (Choreographic work : Balanchine)
- Dances at a gathering (Choreographic work : Robbins)
- Goldberg variations (Choreographic work : Robbins)
- Prendergast, Maurice, 1858-1924
- Interviews
- Guizerix, Jean
- Genre/Form
- Dance.
- Interviews.
- Video.
- Note
- Title from original container; location and date spoken on tape.
- Event (note)
- Videotaped in the library of Jerome Robbins' home in New York, N.Y., on July 11, 1995.
- System Details (note)
- Streaming video.
- Contents
- Reel 1 (ca. 57 min.). Topics include: the initial opposition of his Russian Jewish family to his occupation of dancer; beginning to choreograph; the genesis of his first ballet, Fancy free, created with composer Leonard Bernstein; his first contacts with George Balanchine; joining Ballet Theatre; his wish to treat American themes in dance; joining Balanchine's New York City Ballet; creating The guests, The cage, and Dances at a gathering for New York City Ballet; his belief that his choreographic invention draws upon and is replenished by his experiences outside the dance world; the difficulty of finding a producer for West side story; his interest in the human qualities of his dancers; working with the ensemble in Goldberg variations; New York City Ballet's understanding of his work, as evidenced in the revival of Watermill; the performances of Edward Villella and Jean Guizerix in Watermill; his collaboration with Bernstein on The dybbuk; his re-use of a Debussy score in Antique epigraphs; the use of space in Antique epigraphs and Afternoon of a faun; finding inspiration for Ives, songs in the paintings of Maurice Prendergast; the magic of dance gesture; filming West side story; collaborating with Balanchine on Firebird and Pulcinella; his decision to end his work on musicals; his opinion of Fiddler on the roof; co-directing the film of West side story; collaborating with Twyla Tharp on Brahms/Handel.
- Reel 2 (ca. 49 min.). Topics include: his flair for character roles; dancing for Michel Fokine at Ballet Theatre; dancing the title roles of Balanchine's Prodigal son and Tyl Ulenspiegel; his decision to retire from performing; Nikolaj Hübbe's interpretation of Riff in West side story suite; his comfort with ballet as a language; working with students of the School of American Ballet on 2 & 3 part inventions; capturing the quality of spontaneity in his choreography; Kyra Nichols' performance in Goldberg variations; Mikhail Baryshnikov's intelligence as a performer; Baryshnikov's performance in Balanchine's Harlequinade; reconstructing his own dances for Jerome Robbins' Broadway; his involvement with American Theatre Laboratory; his work The poppa piece; his work as a stage director; choreographing to minimalist scores by Philip Glass and Steve Reich; Tanaquil Le Clercq's versatility as a dancer; his ballet In memory of..., created for Suzanne Farrell; his dislike of assigning specific meanings to his choreography; his keen awareness of his Russian heritage; his establishment of the Lena Robbins Archive (now the Jerome Robbins Archive) at the Dance Collection; his resistance to having his own works recorded; his favorite works among his own oeuvre; receiving feedback from Balanchine; his heroes Gluck-Sandor, Antony Tudor, and Balanchine; his belief that interviews are accurate only for the moment in which they occurred.
- Call Number
- *MGZIDVD 5-171
- OCLC
- NYPY05-F10190
- Title
- Jerome Robbins interviewed by Deborah Jowitt [electronic resource].
- Imprint
- 1995.
- Country of Producing Entity
- U.S.
- Playing Time
- 005810 004953
- System Details
- Streaming video.
- Event
- Videotaped in the library of Jerome Robbins' home in New York, N.Y., on July 11, 1995.
- Connect to:
- Local Subject
- Musical comedies. West side story.Musical comedies. Fiddler on the roof.Musical comedies. Jerome Robbins' Broadway.
- Added Author
- Robbins, Jerome, interviewee.Jowitt, Deborah, interviewer.John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (U.S.)
- Research Call Number
- *MGZIDVD 5-171