October 11
Born Today:
Jerome Robbins
Choreographer Jerome Robbins (1918-1998) moved seamlessly between stage and screen and between ballet and Broadway throughout his long career. He began in musical theatre and joined ABT in 1940, creating the ballet Fancy Free in 1944, before translating it into a full-length musical entitled On The Town, later that year. He choreographed for the New York City Ballet into the 1970s and transferred his Broadway hit The King and I to the movies in 1956. In 1957, he conceived of an update of Romeo and Juliet, he called West Side Story, which he also transferred to film in 1961. The filmed version of WSS was co-choreographed with Peter Gennaro (1919-2000). Additionally, Robbins was a well-known “show doctor” and he shaped the course of many Broadway shows without credit.
Also Born Today: Brazilian actor and ballet dancer Iolanda Braga (1941-2021) performed on multiple TV dance shows in the 1960s and went on to be the first black female actor to star in a Brazilian soap opera.
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Movie: Oklahoma! released in 1955