Jerome Andrews was born in Plaistow, New Hampshire, in 1908.[1][2] He was educated at the Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle.[1] He was then trained in modern dance by Martha Graham, as well as Ruth St. Denis, Doris Humphrey and Hanya Holm.[2][1] He was also influenced by Mary Wigman.[1][3]
He started his career as a dancer in Paris in the early 1930s, where he was a dancer in Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin at Le Colisee.[4] He also danced in London, where he was choreographed by Sigurd Leeder for Prometheus.[4] At the same time, he also worked as a dancer of ballet and modern dance from 1931 to 1937 at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City.[1] While working at the Radio City Music Hall, Andrews met ballet dancer Edith Allard, who later credited him with inspiring her to pursue a career in Paris.[5] At the same time, he worked as a dance teacher and assistant to Alyse Bentley.[1] He also worked with his former teacher, Martha Graham.[3][6]
He also worked as a choreographer in New York. For example, he choreographed Maurice Ravel's The Waltz, which was performed at the Radio City Music Hall.[2][3][6]
He moved back to Paris permanently in the 1952, where he worked as a dance teacher and choreographer.[1][2][6] A year later, in 1953, he established Les Compagnons de la Danse, a dance company.[1] Some of his most renowned students were Dominique Dupuy and Francoise Dupuy.[2][6] A decade later, in 1964, he formed the Jerome Andrews Dance Company.[1] According to the Los Angeles Times, he pioneered modern dance in France, where ballet was a more popular form of dance in the 1950s.[2]
He died on October 26, 1992, in Paris, at the age of eighty-four.[2][1][6]
