Jerome Robbins(1918-1998)

Jerome Robbins was one of the founding members of the Ballet Theatre when it was formed in 1940, portraying a variety of roles for several years before devising his own creations, such as 'Fancy Free' (about three sailors on leave in New York, which marked a long association with Leonard Bernstein). With Jerome in one of the leading roles, it opened at the Metropolitan Opera House in April 1944 and quickly established Jerome and Leonard as important talents, particularly when the play was turned into the film 'On the Town'. Among the ballets Jerome staged for the New York City Ballet of which he became company director, are 'Pied Piper','The Cage',and 'Inter Play'. In 1958, he formed his own company, 'Ballets: USA', which did tours of Europe and the Middle East and New York. Several members of the company were in the film West Side Story which Jerome staged fir Broadway, the National Company and in London.