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Dance With Demons [Paperback]

Greg Lawrence (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

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From Publishers Weekly

Choreographic and theatrical genius Jerome Robbins was born in 1918 in New York City into a materially comfortable but emotionally bleak Jewish immigrant family in New York City. Lawrence (who coauthored Gelsey Kirkland's Dancing on My Grave) points to this emotionally bereft childhood and paternal disapproval ("My son's a fag how can I talk to him?" was reportedly his father's attitude), as well as Robbins's struggles with his Jewish heritage, his sexuality and, most famously, his decision to name names before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in the 1950s, as the definitive aspects of Robbins's life and creative legacy. The sum total of Robbins's work as reported here is staggering; his decades at the heart of the golden ages of American ballet, musical theater, theater and film, as director or choreographer, often in collaboration with such giants as Leonard Bernstein and George Balanchine, left the American public a cultural gold mine. Lawrence interviewed hundreds of dancers, actors, directors, family members and other contemporaries all, whether they loved or hated him, recognized both Robbins's genius and his clearly tortured soul. Most of the remarks herein tell us far more about the speaker than about the subject, but as such, they form an indelible picture of the various eras during which Robbins worked (he was active almost until his death in 1998). Robbins himself made numerous attempts over the years to write his own autobiography, only to abandon them repeatedly when the emotional cost became too great. In the end, Lawrence's account, though comprehensive and lively, can only give us a solid picture of Robbins's times and contemporaries the man himself remains a mystery. Illus. not seen by PW. (May)Forecast: Readers in New York, the center of the ballet and theater worlds, will grab this much-touted book. First serial in Vanity Fair; forthcoming reviews in the New York Times by Janet Maslin, the New Republic, the Washington Post Book Review and Variety; an interview in New York Blade; and a May 1 spot on NPR's new show, Studio 360, will bring lots of attention.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Lawrence (coauthor with Gelsey Kirkland of Dancing on My Grave) tells the life story of legendary American choreographer Jerome Robbins from many different perspectives. Robbins is known for choreographing major Broadway musicals like West Side Story and The King and I and also many ballets. This biography is dominated by quotes from a variety of sources, including critics, dancers, family, and Robbins himself. Rita Moreno of West Side Story is quoted as saying, "What he did that was so unusual [was] that he choreographed for character. He choreographed the way a writer writes." Robbins's demons of the title include problems with his family, his sexual orientation, and his testimony to the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC). The most interesting sections of this hefty tome concern his choreography and its creation, his collaboration with Leonard Bernstein and George Balanchine, and the artistic process. This first full-length biography of this important choreographer is recommended for all libraries. (Photos and index not seen.) Conrad's photographic biography is a good companion to Lawrence's work. Conrad, a screenwriter and longtime friend of Robbins, has combined photographs of Robbins's childhood, insider looks at rehearsals, and lovely photos of performances of his choreography with excerpts from his journals and brief biographical narrative. The result is a heartfelt tribute to a man she clearly loved who contributed much to his art. Recommended for public libraries with broad interest in dance. Barbara Kundanis, Batavia P.L., IL
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
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3.9 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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3.0 out of 5 stars Exhausting, April 14 2003
By 
krebsman (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Dance With Demons (Paperback)
I basically enjoyed the book, but I wish it had been about a hundred pages shorter. I would have preferred a book that really focused on the Broadway career. I have very little interest in ballet and a lot of the book was about ballet. It assumes the dancers mentioned are household words, but aside from Villella, Nureyev, Baryshnikov, Suzanne Farrell and a couple of others, I had no idea who these people were and what they said was not particularly interesting. This is an ambitious book and I admire its ambition, but Robbins was a part of many worlds and in order to do all these worlds justice the whole is diluted. It could have been several books - one dealing with his early life and Jewish heritage, another dealing with his sexual nature, another with his Broadway career, another with his career in dance, and yet another dealing with his early flirtation with and later repudiation of Communism. This book tries to cover all the bases and ends up being exhausting. As I said the ballet part didn't really interest me and it took up most of the last half of the book. As a result I found the last hundred pages really tough going. But I did learn a lot that interested me, like how Robbins wanted John Latouche and Arthur Laurents to write the lyrics and book for ON THE TOWN. Bernstein wanted Comden and Green. ...
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4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Oral History, Mar 26 2003
By 
Ricky Hunter (New York City, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Dance With Demons (Paperback)
Greg Lawrence is less an author than a complier of an oral history of the life of Jerome Robbins in Dance With Demons. This is by no means a true biography but it does fill a certain need until that volume is written. It gives almost everybody Jerome Robbins met in his life a chance to speak, sometimes briefly and sometimes at length, about working with or knowing him. No aspect of his life is left untouched. This book is almost less about Jerome Robbins as a person than it is about the ways in which he touched people. All the nastiness is there but also all the good things people had to say about him. There is nothing defintive about this book but it makes for a fascinating read and is a testament to power of this difficult genius.
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1.0 out of 5 stars Tedious and vulgar, Jun 16 2002
This review is from: Dance With Demons (Hardcover)
Very little to do with dance, this book is mostly personalities and scandal. The not-very-subtle subtext is Robbins' homosexuality, and its relation to the HUAC affair. Strictly for celebrity hounds.
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