The Role of Dance as Narrative in West Side Story

Created in 1957 with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, West Side Story was influenced by Shakespeare's renowned love story of Romeo and Juliet. It was adapted by its creatives into a tale of gang rivalry set in the streets of New York City’s West Side in the 1950s. On the forefront of the plot is the deep-seated rivalry between the Puerto Rican gang, the Sharks, and the Caucasian gang, the Jets. The story revolves around Maria, a shark, and Tony, a Jet who face difficulties in their journey of love as ancient grudges between the opposing gangs make their relationship seem impossible. The musical is essentially a tragedy, similar to that of Romeo and Juliet, however incorporates real-time issues of racism and sexism, embedded into diverse melodies, energetic and athletic dance battles, and its 'remarkably salient social message, West Side Story remains one of the American musical theatre’s most revolutionary and most loved treasures'.

Sondheim always aspired to find his own way of writing music and creating original material which has proven to work in his favor, with nominations for the Grammys and a successful win at the 1991 Oscars for For the song 'Sooner or Later' from Dick Tracy. Since West Side Storys release, he has been successful in winning eight Tony awards, the most by any choreographer in the history of the awards ceremonies existence. Sondheim describes, 'I learned, as a composer, to be less square, that you don’t always have to write in four-bar phrases'.

In the song 'Maria', Sondheim pursued the most honest saying 'less is more' which is also quite similar to the choreography in the show. With the use of repetition of Maria's name created the more romantic and honest feeling of a young person falling in love which is also a creative aspect which made 'West side story' the masterpiece it is. Although Sondheim was very creative he struggled with the song 'America' as he really wanted to make sure the lyrics could be understood by the audience as well as keeping the rhythm he created which worked wonderfully. 

Choreographer Jerome Robbins is a well known, prolific choreographer for Broadway, Hollywood and classical ballet. On the Town, Billion Dollar Baby, High Button Shoes, West Side Story, The King and I, Gypsy, Peter Pan, Miss Liberty, Call Me Madam, and Fiddler on the Roof. His last Broadway production in 1989, Jerome Robbins' Broadway, won six Tony Awards including best musical and best director. Jerome Robbins. His choreography for West Side Story is world famous for its exquisite storytelling and its use of pedestrian movement to portray an emotion or piece of culture. Robbin's utilized the narrative content in his choreography and without the dances, the story would not exist'.

Throughout West Side Story, dance was used to convey dramatic action and not only used for romantic purposes. Robbins incorporated the dance sequences flawlessly into the songs and action of the story and combined modern popular dance with classical styles. In fact, Robbins’ challenging choreography was so difficult that no scene was ever able to be filmed all the way through (Ebert). It is obvious that West Side Story employed dance styles never before used because these experienced dancers struggled to keep up.

The choreography Robbins created for west side story has its own movement vocabulary making it instantly recognizable. The high kick in second with extended, splayed hands is an iconic trait of West Side Story and also not forgetting the iconic clicking of the fingers while they walk with a purpose, this makes audiences reminisce of the musical, without this, the show would not have the same cohesive impact. Robbin's ballet training had a massive impact on his choreography as you may have seen in all of his choreography throughout West Side Story but Robbins also thought very deeply into the choreography which made it even more special to watch. The Ballet aspects gave the choreography a lot of grace and personality which made all the moves flow nicely together with also the help of his whole body movements and the emphasis on the downbeats of the music to portray the youth, aggressive, violent, male energy in the jets and the sharks.

Jerome Robbins movement he has portrays in West Side Story is pretty much identical to his previous piece of work 'Fancy Free' (1944) this piece was mainly focused on ballet and character movements which worked in his favor because it focused on the characterization in serious events by doing this it helps the audience have a clearer idea of what is going on. In the piece 'Fancy Free' you can tell Robbin's has his own specific ways of moving like the same as Sondheim and his writing. Throughout the dance, you are able to see that Robbins like to have a strong focus of naturalism which was portrayed by the use of walking with effortless then smoothly entrance into dance. Lots of Robin's movements had lots of different feels to it like contemporary, ballet and Latin. A lot of the dance moves you see during 'Fancy Face' Accented hops (jazz)Parallel Retire (jazz) Elevated Ball change (jazz) Drag Runs (jazz) Side Kick (jazz) Barrel Jump (ballet) Technical Arm Lines (ballet) Retire (ballet) Release (contemporary) Suspension (contemporary) Hip Rolls (Latin) Body Rolls (Latin).

Robbins' acute observation and his mastery of ballet informed the style of each leap and gesture in West Side Story. Street gangs and gang warfare – a very present reality in New York City at the time the show's creators envisioned it – were rough, suggestive, crude, violent, and possessed of a distinctive swagger. The impoverished disenfranchised 'locals,' and the even more upstart recent immigrants, identified with a culture that rejected the more gentrified economic classes who rejected them. Every single move in West Side Story reflected that reality.

The musical number 'Cool' seems to be one of the most technically demanding dance routines in the show, as it is one of the first larger numbers you are able to see what kind of movement will be going on throughout the show. The moves are very noticeable like the snaps, the fist pounding into the palm of their hands, the arched shoulders and the pirouettes to the grand. choreography like this give the idea to the audience that there will be some sort of rivalry coming up in the show as the movement is very aggressive, this is also shown by the use of the actors' facial expressions while dancing by doing this it helps the audience understand their emotion. By doing this it also helps set the scene and makes the story more clear for viewers or audience. This builds a level of tension which sets the atmosphere for the scene. In the dance number 'Dance at the gym' (which is one of the main numbers that is very clear for storytelling) there are lots of different styles of dancing going on at once. You have the Porto Ricans doing very Latin movements which and as for the Caucasian’s there movement was very jazz technique orientated this was effective because it was a complete contrast to one another.

West Side Story stands out compared to any other shows because of its consistent details throughout all of its aspects. One of the most memorable parts of the show is the use of ballet and dance which is why it has been such a success. Obviously the show is going to contain some sort of dance or movement but the way that dance is used to represent all of the important acts on the stage is majorly important, and again, introduces the elements of other art to the Broadway stage. That the dancing has been parodied in such media as Family Guy it only brings it back down to its success and instant recognisability . This technique does extend further than just the dancing. The dramatic use of characterized elements, and the percussive use of harmonic elements are always used as dramatic devices- everything that happens in the score, script and choreography all have their purpose.

Throughout the performance of West Side Story, there is a lot to focus on but with the use of dance, this makes it a lot easier to understand what is happening in the performance as well as enjoying watching. Dance is a key highlight of this show and everyone knows it and it also helps that dance is what helps people understand the narrative of the show. The use of Robbin's choreography is very unique and perfect for West Side Story as it helped portray the themes of love, loyalty, youth, and race. As this is performance has a wide range of different emotions throughout it was portrayed successfully through the use of dance which was made West Side Story one of a kind.

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