Gay History Month: Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins was a bisexual choreographer and director of Broadway musicals and classical ballet.
He dropped out of NYU to study dance with the New Dance League, an organization that rose during the Leftist Era of the 1930’s.
Leftist dance and the New Dance League advocated the education of young dancers and used them and their performances as radical propaganda, challenging society’s view of race, political affiliation and sexuality.
Robbins went on to choreograph on Broadway for such plays as the King and I, Fiddler on the Roof, and West Side Story. He also choreographed and staged productions for the Joffrey Ballet and the New York City Ballet. He choreographed a new musical and ballet almost every year between 1944 and 1964.
At the height of McCarthyism, Robbins, fearful of his sexuality being outed, “named names” during a meeting of the House Un-American Activities Committee. His reputation was tarnished.
However, he has won four Tony Awards for Best Choreography and Best Direction of a Musical, one Emmy Award and a National Medal of the Arts.
