Choreographer
Jerome Robbins was the visionary choreographer who revolutionized both ballet and Broadway, creating the vocabulary of American dance through masterworks that ranged from the lyrical abstraction of Dances at a Gathering to the groundbreaking social realism of West Side Story.
Defining moments and milestones
Jerome Robbins began as a dancer in Broadway choruses and Ballet Theatre productions before establishing himself as a choreographer with the 1944 ballet Fancy Free, which announced a revolutionary synthesis of classical technique and American vernacular movement. He ascended to become the preeminent figure in American dance by serving as Ballet Master in Chief of New York City Ballet while simultaneously creating the most influential Broadway musicals of the era, most notably West Side Story, which transformed the artistic possibilities of musical theatre. His late-career works, particularly Dances at a Gathering (1969), cemented his legacy as an artist of uncompromising vision whose ballets and theatrical works continue to define the aesthetic of American dance.
Created and choreographed West Side Story (1957), which revolutionized musical theatre as a unified artistic form and won the Tony Award for Best Musical; also created Dances at a Gathering (1969), widely regarded as the masterpiece of American neoclassical ballet
Woodrow Wilson High School (graduated 1935); New York University (1935–1936, chemistry)
A chronological journey through key moments
Recordings featuring Jerome Robbins in the Society index
Additional recordings will appear here as the catalog expands.