The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Announces New Class of Jerome Robbins Dance Division Fellows

JUNE 26, 2017 - The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts’ Jerome Robbins Dance Division has selected its new class of dance research fellows, generously funded by the Dance Committee for the Division. This class of six fellows was chosen by a diverse panel and, to celebrate Robbins' centenary, will focus their projects on the Jerome Robbins papers, as well as the many resources related to his work within the Library, such as the video and audio materials he donated.

This year's fellows are:

  • Ninotchka D. Bennahum; Professor, Department of Theater & Dance, The University of California, Santa Barbara

  • Adrian Danchig-Waring; Principal Dancer, New York City Ballet

  • Robert Greskovic; Dance Critic at the Wall Street Journal

  • Julie Lemberger; Graduate Student for a Master of Arts in Dance Education, Hunter College, Arnhold Graduate Dance Education Program

  • Alastair Macaulay; Chief Dance Critic, The New York Times

  • Hiie Saumaa; Lecturer, Department of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University

Created to support scholars and practitioners engaged in graduate-level, post-doctoral, and independent research, this program awards a stipend of $7,500 and a research period from June 1 to December 31, 2017 for fellows to complete their work. Each fellow is required to participate in a public symposium in January 2018 where they will deliver a presentation or performance on the outcome of their research. Leading up to Robbins’ centenary, the fellows' scholarship will explore aspects of Jerome Robbins’ legacy including his photography, artwork and writing, as well as his overall contribution to dance.

“We are so proud of this latest group of fellows," said Jacqueline Z. Davis, Barbara G. and Lawrence A. Fleischman Executive Director of The Library for the Performing Arts. "To honor the namesake of our Dance Division while uncovering new depths of his collection and life’s work is an amazing opportunity. Their final works will be sure to inspire and teach the students, artists, and researchers who explore and use our collections."

“The breadth of Jerome Robbins’ career is on full display with the projects conceived by this year’s class of Fellows,” said Allen Greenberg, President of the Jerome Robbins Foundation and the Chair of the Dance Committee. “Jerome Robbins was a genius, whose legacy as a choreographer and director is well known, but few people are aware that the scope of his talents encompassed writing and visual art. I am eager to see how the rich treasures in the Robbins' collections at the Library will illuminate the full spectrum of his talents.”

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, film and television. Robbins had a lifelong relationship with The New York Public Library, and even attended storytime at the 42nd Street building as a child. However, it was in his generosity toward the Dance Collection (which included donating a portion of his royalties from Fiddler on the Roof) that the most indelible mark was made, culminating in the Collection being renamed the Jerome Robbins Dance Division in his honor. To celebrate a great artist and patron, the Division will undertake a calendar year of events in 2018 including an exhibition, public programs, a symposium and educational activities to celebrate the centenary of Robbins' birth.

About the 2017-2018 Fellows at the Jerome Robbins Dance Division

Ninotchka D. Bennahum -  Professor , Department of Theater & Dance, The University of California, Santa Barbara

Jerome Robbins: Ballet Theatre, War and Patriotism

As part of her book manuscript, The Founding of American Ballet Theatre on the Eve of War, Bennahum will focus on the conceptual and artistic contribution of Robbins to the creation of an American ballet idiom. Bennahum sheds light on Robbins' visual imagination as expressive of his sexuality and immigrant roots in New York City.

Adrian Danchig-Waring; Principal Dancer, New York City Ballet

The Embodied Grammar of Jerome Robbins’ Dances

Examining the cohesive dance language of Robbins' choreographic work, Danchig-Waring’s project will culminate in a performance translating his research. With his firsthand knowledge of the choreography, Danchig-Waring hopes to use the collection to codify Robbins' specific style of movement.

Robert Greskovic; Dance Critic at the Wall Street Journal

Robbins' Dances to Chopin Before and After "Dances at a Gathering"

Focusing specifically on Robbins' four Chopin ballets, Greskovic plans to investigate the  oldest films of these four works and related writings to and trace their performance histories during Robbins' lifetime. Having followed  these ballets over nearly 5 decades, Greskovic plans to incorporate his own experience with the dances into his final project.

Julie Lemberger; lead photographer at JulieLemberger.com and Graduate Student candidate for a Master of Arts, Hunter College, Arnhold Graduate Dance Education Program

Photography of Martha Swope; Analysis and Criticism of dance photographs focusing on works by Jerome Robbins

Studying Robbins through the lens of another artist, Lemberger aims to use the photography of the legendary Martha Swope to provide a new angle on the criticism of dance photography. As Swope's career began with her photographs of Robbins during a rehearsal of West Side Story, her project shows Robbins’ work in terms of a visual language. Lemberger will present and discuss dance photographs both well known and seldom seen from the Library’s vast collection.

Alastair Macaulay; Chief Dance Critic, The New York Times

Nijinsky’s “Faune” and Robbins' “Faun”

Macaulay will be focusing his research on Robbins' ballet “Afternoon of a Faun,” which in several ways referred to an earlier ballet - Nijinsky's “L'Après-midi d’un faune.” Macaulay is conducting separate seminars (recorded on film for the Library) that analyze each of these two ballets. He will then compare the two versions, culminating in a visual presentation at the Library and - it is hoped - publication in Ballet Review and/or elsewhere.

HiieSaumaa; Lecturer, Department of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University

Jerome Robbins - Composer in Words

As part of an upcoming book, Saumaa will explore the narrative writings of Robbins and how his autobiographical works informed his compositional process. Because of his particular poetic voice and writing style, Saumaa hopes to shine a light on the lesser-known creative outlet of Robbins.

The Jerome Robbins Dance Division of The New York Public Library is the largest and most comprehensive archive in the world devoted to the documentation of dance. Chronicling the art of dance in all its forms, the Division acts as much more than a library. We preserve the history of dance by gathering diverse written, visual, and aural resources, and work to ensure the art form's continuity through active documentation and educational programs.

Founded in 1944, the Dance Division is used regularly by choreographers, dancers, critics, historians, journalists, publicists, filmmakers, graphic artists, students, and the general public. While the Division contains more than 44,000 books about dance, these account for only a small percent of its vast holdings. Other resources available for study free of charge include papers and manuscript collections, moving image and audio recordings, clippings and program files, and original prints and designs.

PRESS CONTACT:

Sara Beth Joren sarabethjoren@nypl.org

About The New York Public Library For The Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts houses one of the world’s most extensive combinations of circulating, reference, and rare archival collections in its field. These materials are available free of charge, along with a wide range of special programs, including exhibitions, seminars, and performances. An essential resource for everyone with an interest in the arts — whether professional or amateur — the Library is known particularly for its prodigious collections of non-book materials such as historic recordings, videotapes, autograph manuscripts, correspondence, sheet music, stage designs, press clippings, programs, posters and photographs. The Library is part of The New York Public Library system, which has 92 locations in the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island, and is a lead provider of free education for all.