Remote Robbins Research Resources
If you cannot visit the Library, there are still numerous resources that are accessible and helpful for researching Jerome Robbins. The New York Public Library offers access to e-books and digitized collection material, and there are also other institutions that have dedicated information on Robbins.
Digital Collections
The New York Public Library's Digital Collections offers offsite access to some of our materials. Jerome Robbins is represented heavily here with portions of his own collections, but can also be found in collections from significant photographers such as Martha Swope or Frederick Melton. Included are not just photos of Robbins, but also of his choreography and other work. Below is a short list of materials of note that are in Digital Collections and accessible from home.
- Jerome Robbins Photographs
- Jerome Robbins Personal Papers
- Jerome Robbins Collection of Graphic Works
- Carl Van Vechten Photos of Three Virgins and a Devil
- Frederick Melton Photographs of Jerome Robbins
- Martha Swope Photographs
- Photographic Prints of Dancers and Dance Companies
- Friedman-Abeles Photograph Collection
Streaming
There are some wonderful free video sources related to Jerome Robbins that can be found on YouTube. Check out this selection of videos about the man and his work.
Other Resources on Robbins
Below is a list of suggested additional web resources.
E-Books
Whether you are doing in depth research, or just want an interesting book to read, we have multiple biographies about Jerome Robbins in e-book form. Check them out below!
E-Books
Jerome Robbins, by Himself by The titanic choreographer, creator of memorable ballets, master of Broadway musicals, legendary show doctor and director, now revealed in his own words--the closest we will get to a memoir/autobiography--from his voluminous letters, journals, notes, diaries, never before published. Edited, and with commentary by Amanda Vaill.
Somewhere by From the author of the acclaimed Everybody Was So Young, the definitive and major biography of the great choreographer and Broadway legend Jerome Robbins. To some, Jerome Robbins was a demanding perfectionist, a driven taskmaster, a theatrical visionary; to others, he was a loyal friend, a supportive mentor, a generous and entertaining companion and colleague.
Jerome Robbins by From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, a lively and inspired biography celebrating the centennial of this master choreographer, dancer, and stage director. Jerome Robbins (1918-1998) was born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz and grew up in Weehawken, New Jersey, where his Russian-Jewish immigrant parents owned the Comfort Corset Company. Robbins, who was drawn to dance at a young age, resisted the idea of joining the family business. In 1936 he began working with Gluck Sandor, who ran a dance group and convinced him to change his name to Jerome Robbins. He went on to become a choreographer and director who worked in ballet, on Broadway, and in film.
Broadway, the Golden Years by Broadway, the Golden Years, is a wonderfully readable group portrait of the great Broadway choreographer-directors: Jerome Robbins, Agnes de Mille, Gower Champion, Bob Fosse, Michael Bennett, Tommy Tune, Graciela Daniele, and Susan Stroman.
A Place for Us by From its Broadway debut to the Oscar-winning film to countless amateur productions, West Side Story is nothing less than an American touchstone--an updating of Shakespeare vividly realized in a rapidly changing postwar New York. That vision of New York is at the heart of Julia L. Foulkes's A Place for Us.
E-Audiobooks
- Jerome Robbins, by Himself by The titanic choreographer, creator of memorable ballets, master of Broadway musicals, legendary show doctor and director, now revealed in his own words--the closest we will get to a memoir/autobiography--from his voluminous letters, journals, notes, diaries, never before published. Edited, and with commentary by Amanda Vaill, author of Robbins's biography, Somewhere, 2006.