About the Book:

In this authoritative biography Jerome Robbins: His Life, His Theater, His Dance, author and scholar Deborah Jowitt explores the life, works, and creative processes of the complex genius Jerome Robbins (1918-1998), who redefined the role of dance in musical theatre and is also considered America's greatest native-born ballet choreographer.

This meticulously researched and elegantly written story of a life's work is illuminated by photographs, enlivened by anecdotes, and grounded in insights into ballets and musical comedies that have been seen and loved all over the world.

What people say:

"It is candid yet balanced, insightful about his work and revelatory about his theater. It lays bare the tension between Robbins the person and Robbins the artist." — Los Angeles Times

"Ms. Jowitt's book has the authenticity that comes only from being there." — Twyla Tharp

"Jowitt's fascinating biography of the innovative director of Broadway musicals and choreographer of masterpieces for the New York City Ballet...trenchantly reveal[s] Robbins's relationship with his own beliefs....Compelling." — The New York Times

"To read Ms. Jowitt's extraordinarily revealing book is to be in the presence of Jerome Robbins." — Edward Villella

"This is the definitive biography." — The Houston Chronicle

About the Author:

Deborah Jowitt began to dance professionally in 1953, to show her own choreography in 1962, and to write a regular dance column for The Village Voice in 1967. She has lectured, taught, and/or conducted workshops at institutions and conferences in the United States and abroad and has been on the faculty of the Dance Department of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts since 1975 — in the past two decades as a Master Teacher. Her articles on dance have appeared in numerous journals, as well as in anthologies and exhibition catalogues. She is the author of Jerome Robbins: His Life, His Theater, His Dance.