Robert Alton (2 January 1902 – 12 June 1957) was an American dancer and

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

, a major figure in dance choreography of Broadway and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

musicals from the 1930s through to the early 1950s. He is principally remembered today as the discoverer of

Gene Kelly Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American dancer, actor, singer, director and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...

, for his collaborations with Fred Astaire, and for choreographic sequences he designed for Hollywood musicals such as '' The Harvey Girls'' (1946), ''

Till the Clouds Roll By ''Till the Clouds Roll By'' is a 1946 American Technicolor musical film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and a fictionalized biopic of composer Jerome Kern, portrayed by Robert Walker (actor, born 1918), Robert Walker. Kern was involved with the ...

'' (1946), ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 Show Boat (novel), novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the per ...

'' (1951), and '' White Christmas'' (1954).

Biography

Born Robert Alton Hart in

Bennington, Vermont Bennington is a New England town, town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. It is one of two shire towns (county seats) of the county, the other being Manchester (town), Vermont, Manchester. As of the 2020 United States Census, US Cens ...

, United States, Alton studied dance with Ralph McKernan in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...

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 The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Russian Revolution, Revolution ...

. 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 St. Louis movie theatres while teaching at Clark's Dance School in St. Louis. There his students included Donn Arden and Betty Grable. After a series of successful stagings at New York's Paramount Theatre in 1933, he began a choreographic career which encompassed many of the most successful Broadway hits of the 1930s and 1940s including The Ziegfeld Follies of 1934, 1936 and 1942. He collaborated with

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

Rodgers and Hart Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership between composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and the lyricist Lorenz Hart (1895–1943). They worked together on 28 stage musicals and more than 500 songs from 1919 until Hart's ...

and

Rodgers and Hammerstein Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their musical ...

on Me and Juliet in 1953. He learned

stage direction In theatre, blocking is the precise staging of actors to facilitate the performance of a play, ballet, film or opera. Historically, the expectations of staging/blocking have changed substantially over time in Western theater. Prior to the movem ...

from John Murray Anderson and during his Broadway career he was instrumental in furthering the careers of Ray Bolger, John Brascia, Don Crichton, Betty Grable,

, Sheree North,

Vera-Ellen Vera-Ellen (born Vera-Ellen Rohe; February 16, 1921 – August 30, 1981) was an American dancer, actress, and singer. She is remembered for her solo performances as well as her work with partners Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Danny Kaye, and Donald ...

and

Charles Walters Charles Powell Walters (November 17, 1911 – August 13, 1982) was an American Cinema of the United States, Hollywood director and choreographer most noted for his work in MGM musicals and comedies from the 1940s to the 1960s. Early years Char ...

, among others. 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''. Angela Lansbury in Till the Clouds Roll By 2

Angela Lansbury in Till the Clouds Roll By 2

Alton choreographed his first Hollywood film, '' Strike Me Pink'', in 1936, and became one of the leading choreographers during the golden age of the Hollywood musical film, serving as dance director for

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

from 1944-1951. He continued to work on Broadway during this period and, in 1952 won a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

for his revival of '' Pal Joey'' which he had originally choreographed in 1940, catapulting the young Gene Kelly to stardom. He also directed the films '' Merton of the Movies'' (1947) and '' Pagan Love Song'' (1950) for MGM. 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 '' Pal Joey'' when he collapsed. His place was taken by

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz, May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, actor, singer, musician, choreographer, and presenter, whose career in stage, film, and television spanned 76 years. He is widely regarded as the "g ...

's principal collaborator, Hermes Pan. Alton died later in Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, of a kidney ailment. He was 55 years old. He was buried in the family plot in

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

and worked with

, Cyd Charisse,

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

, 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."Straus, Rachel. "Robert Alton." Dance teacher. 33.1 (2011): 39.

References

Bibliography

* * Straus, Rachel. "Robert Alton." Dance teacher. 33.1 (2011).

External links

* *
Ovrtur Page on Robert Alton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alton, Robert 1902 births 1957 deaths American choreographers American male dancers Donaldson Award winners Film choreographers People from Bennington, Vermont Tony Award winners Film directors from Vermont Musical theatre choreographers 20th-century American dancers