Robert Alton
Robert Alton | |
|---|---|
Choreographer , dancer | |
| Spouse | Marjorie Fielding (1926–1929) |
Robert Alton (2 January 1902 – 12 June 1957) was an American dancer and
Biography
Born Robert Alton Hart in Bennington, Vermont, United States,[1] Alton studied dance with Ralph McKernan in Springfield, Massachusetts and spent his summers in New York studying with Bert French and Mikhail Mordkin, formerly of the Bolshoi Ballet and Sergey Diaghilev's Ballets Russes.[2] His Broadway stage dancing début was with Mordkin's company in Take It from Me (1919), followed by Greenwich Follies (1924) and Some Day (1925) which failed to make it to Broadway. He also choreographed.
With his wife, Marjorie Fielding, he created a dance act and subsequently managed a line of chorus girls in vaudeville. When his wife took a sabbatical to have a baby, he took over dance direction at
After a series of successful stagings at New York's
He is credited with transforming Broadway choreography by breaking up the chorus (which until then was a precision line) into featured soloists and small groups, and his musical staging was celebrated for its elegance and attention to detail. His theatre credits included Life Begins at 8:40, The Vamp, Anything Goes, Du Barry Was a Lady, Panama Hattie, Pal Joey, and Hazel Flagg.[1]
Alton choreographed his first Hollywood film,
During this time period. Alton staged and choreographed the dynamic nightclub act, "Kay Thompson and the Williams Brothers", which successfully toured the world from 1947 to 1952.
In 1957, he was working on the film version of
He was buried in the family plot in Bennington, Vermont.
Contributions to dance
According to Straus, "Alton moved chorus dancing into a new era, by featuring soloists and small groups, and requiring the chorus to be adept at both ballet and tap." He discovered Gene Kelly and worked with Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Marilyn Monroe, and the Nicholas Brothers.
Unlike Agnes de Mille and Jack Cole, who worked to expand their choreographic vocabulary, Alton synthesized dance material already popular at the time, and wanted performers to "distill their personalities through their dancing."[3]
References
- ^ ISBN 1-85227-937-0.
- ^ Straus, Rachel. "Robert Alton." Dance teacher. 33.1 (2011): 38.
- ^ Straus, Rachel. "Robert Alton." Dance teacher. 33.1 (2011): 39.
Bibliography
- Billman, Larry (1997). Film Choreographers and Dance Directors. North Carolina: McFarland and Company. pp. 204–206. ISBN 0-89950-868-5.
- Straus, Rachel. "Robert Alton." Dance teacher. 33.1 (2011).
