All Robbins Main Page May 29–June 8, 2008 About the Artists Jerome Robbins Choreographer Jerome Robbins is world renowned for his work as a choreographer of ballets as well as his work as a director and choreographer in theater, movies and television. Although he began as a modern dancer, his start on Broadway was as a chorus dancer before joining the corps de ballet of American Ballet Theatre in 1939, where he went on to dance principal roles in the works of Fokine, Tudor, Massine, Balanchine, Lichine and de Mille. His first ballet, Fancy Free (1944) for ABT, still in many repertoires, celebrated its fiftieth birthday on April 18, 1994. While embarking on his career in the theater, Mr. Robbins simultaneously created ballets for New York City Ballet, which he joined in 1949, and became an Associate Artistic Director with George Balanchine. Mr. Robbins has directed for television and film as well, with his co-direction and choreography of West Side Story winning him two Academy Awards. After his Broadway triumph with Fiddler On the Roof in 1964, Mr. Robbins continued creating ballets for New York City Ballet. He shared the position of Ballet-Master-in-Chief with Peter Martins until 1989. He has created more than 60 ballets, including Afternoon of a Faun (1953), The Concert (1956), Les Noces (1965), Dances At a Gathering (1969), In the Night (1970), In G Major (1975), Other Dances (1976), Glass Pieces (1983) and Ives Songs (1989) which are in the repertories of the New York City Ballet, the Ballet de l'Opera de Paris and major dance companies throughout the world. His most recent ballets include A Suite of Dances with Mikhail Baryshnikov (1994), 2 & 3 Part Inventions (1994), West Side Story Suite (1995) and Brandenburg (1996) all of which premiered at New York City Ballet. In addition to his two Academy Awards, Mr. Robbins's awards and citations include four Tony Awards, five Donaldson Awards, two Emmy Awards, the Screen Directors' Guild Award and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. Mr. Robbins is a 1981 Kennedy Center Honors Recipient, was awarded the Commandeur de L'Order des Arts et des Lettres, is an honorary member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, and was awarded a National Medal of Arts as well as the Governor's Arts Awards by the New York State Council on the Arts. Some of his Broadway shows include On the Town, Billion Dollar Baby, High Button Shoes, West Side Story, The King and I, Gypsy, Peter Pan, Miss Liberty, Call Me Madam and Fiddler on the Roof. In 1989, Jerome Robbins's Broadway won six Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Director. He was most recently awarded the French Chevalier dans l'Ordre National de la Legion d'Honneur. Jerome Robbins passed away in 1998. Leonard Bernstein Composer, Fancy Free Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990) was perhaps the most influential figure in classical music in the last half of the twentieth century. Pianist, composer, conductor, author, arranger, educator, and TV/radio host, the American-born Bernstein had a profound impact on popular acceptance and appreciation of classical music. His scores for such Broadway musicals as West Side Story and On the Town helped forge a new relationship between classical and popular music. Born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Mr. Bernstein studied at Harvard and was appointed assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic in 1943 and music director in 1958. From then until 1969, he led more concerts with the orchestra than any previous conductor and more than half of his four-hundred-plus recordings were made with the New York Philharmonic. His televised concert and lecture series included the extraordinary Young People's Concerts that extended over fourteen seasons. Mr. Bernstein collaborated with choreographer Jerome Robbins on three major ballets: Fancy Free (1944) and Facsimile (1946) for Ballet Theatre and Dybbuk (1975) for New York City Ballet. In 1957, he collaborated with Robbins again on the landmark musical West Side Story, which was also made into the Academy Award-winning film. Among Mr. Bernstein's numerous awards won over the course of his career are eleven Emmys and Kennedy Center honors, presented in 1980. In 1985, he was recognized with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Judith Fugate Stager, Fancy Free Judith Fugate is a former principal ballerina with New York City Ballet, where she danced roles in virtually every ballet in the company's repertoire, counting among her partners Peter Martins, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Helgi Tomasson, and Peter Boal. During her long career, she toured extensively with groups led by renowned artists, such as Mr. Baryshnikov, Cynthia Gregory, and Mr. Martins. Miss Fugate appeared on "Live from Lincoln Center" with Ray Charles in Peter Martins' A Fool for You. She was partnered by Fernando Bujones and Mr. Boal in the Metropolitan Opera's production of La Traviata, conducted by Placido Domingo. She left New York City Ballet in 1997, founded Ballet NY with Medhi Bahiri, and is currently its Co-Artistic Director. Miss Fugate works as a repetiteur for the George Balanchine Trust and has staged Balanchine's ballets in the United States, Europe, Asia and South America. She has also been engaged by the Robbins Rights Trust to stage the ballets of the great American choreographer Jerome Robbins. Christine Redpath Stager, In the Night, and The Concert Christine Redpath, a former soloist with New York City Ballet, is currently an assistant ballet mistress with Pacific Northwest Ballet. Ms. Redpath has also worked with noted choreographers such as Lar Lubovitch, Laura Dean, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Angelin Preljocaj, Mauro Bigonzetti and Helgi Tomasson. Ms. Redpath joined New York City Ballet in 1969 as a member of the corps de ballet. She soon assumed featured roles in such ballets as George Balanchine's Jewels ("Emeralds"), Danses Concertantes, Divertimento from "Le Baiser de la Fée," L'Enfant et les Sortileges, Symphony in C, Symphony in Three Movements, and Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3, and in Jerome Robbins' The Goldberg Variations, Dances at a Gathering, Dumbarton Oaks and An Evening's Waltzes. In 1973, she was promoted to the rank of soloist. Ms. Redpath left the Company in 1978 and in 1980 joined the Zurich Ballet Company as a principal dancer under the direction of Patricia Neary. In 1983, Ms. Redpath left Zurich and joined Chamber Ballets U.S.A., with which she toured the United States until 1985. In the summer of 1984, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux invited her to Chautauqua Institute, where she taught and staged Concerto Barocco and portions of Who Cares?, as well as choreography by Mr. Bonnefoux. Ms. Redpath rejoined New York City Ballet in 1985 as an Assistant Ballet Master, to help maintain the Jerome Robbins ballets in the repertory. In addition to staging works for the Jerome Robbins and George Balanchine Trusts, she has re-staged works on other companies such as The Paris Opera Ballet, The Australian Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Ballet British Columbia, Ballet Florida and the San Francisco Ballet. Ms Redpath is one of four ballet masters designated by Jerome Robbins to maintain and stage his works.