Roy Tobias, Dies in Korea
Philadelphia-born Roy Tobias passed away as the result of pneumonia on August 16, in Seoul, Korea. He performed in Ballet Theatre, later renamed American Ballet Theatre and Ballet Society, and renamed New York City Ballet in 1948. Tobias performed principal roles in NYCB until 1960. At the time of his death, he had been artistic director of the Universal Ballet in Korea.
Tobias, who was extremely musical, elegant and energetic, was able to interpret a wide range of roles, from the droll to the serious, from "The Toy Soldier" in Balanchine's first Act of "Nutcracker" (1954) to King Mark in Ashton's "Picnic at Tintagel," one of several of the British choreographer's works in the earlier repertoire of NYCB. He had a subtle sense of humor discovered in high school where he performed in several Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. In New York City, at Ballet Theatre, the young Tobias appeared in Michael Kidd's "On Stage!," 1945, and in "Undertow," 1946, choreographed by Antony Tudor, as well as the same choreographer's musical, "High Button Shoes," in 1947.
But it was in New York City Ballet where Tobias' penetrating dramatic characterizations brought him to everyone's attention. In Jerome Robbins' "Age of Anxiety," to the poem by the same name of W.H. Auden and Leonard Bernstein's music, as one of the four dancers in the work, he seemed the personification of the '50s man, with underlying fears and tentative gestures that seem to be loneliness, resolved into a journey with the other characters into learning more about themselves and their age. Melodrama was also lurking in Todd Bolender's "The Miraculous Mandarin," 1951, set as a terrifying street scene of violence. It would be almost impossible to restage these works without the original choreographers or to cast them with today's male dancers, who prize athleticism over depth of emotion and compelling stage presence.
In the late 1950s, New York City Ballet embarked on a long tour of Australia and Japan. Tobias was particularly sensitive to the refinement, discipline and colorfulness of the East. At home, the move from the company's home base at City Center to the State Theater at Lincoln Center heralded the necessity to fill the huge stage with dancers developed at the company's affiliated School of American Ballet, who lacked pre-professional experience. There was financial strain during the wait and twelve members of the company left for other opportunities. Tobias joined several companies and settled in Korea in 1988 joining the Universal Ballet Company until 1995, where he became the artistic director. He taught and staged original and classical works for the com-pany as well as for the Korean National Ballet Company from the '60s to the '80s. In 1995, Tobias worked with Seoul Ballet Theatre, a ballet and modern dance group, which he also directed. His contribution to the development of Korea's dancers and its ballet companies is inestimable.