In 1945, when Jerome Robbins was choreographing Billion Dollar Baby, the show’s company watched silently as he backed up to the orchestra pit and fell in. He was so unpopular that no one bothered to warn him when he had reached the edge of the stage.

Many don’t realize that the award-winning choreographer of shows including On the Town, West Side Story, The King and I and Fiddler on the Roof was infamously disliked by many of the dancers he worked with, said Steve Crosby, treasurer of the Chautauqua Dance Circle.

At 3 p.m. today in Smith Wilkes Hall, Crosby will give the lecture “Jerome Robbins: Demon Master of Ballet and Broadway,” delving into the life of the American choreographer whose influence spanned many genres of dance.