What does the dancing in West Side Story represent?
Dancing. What’s harder to spot is the way dance can tell a story: to move the narrative forward and show us the relationship between the characters. Take the “America” sequence, which shows the competition but seductive playfulness between the Puerto Rican men and women.
What type of dancing is in West Side Story?
Every single move in West Side Story reflected that reality. Ballet gave the choreography grace; jazz and genius gave it personality.
What is the message of America West Side Story?
Their message is that you should not believe in the tales of the Promised Land where everything is possible without doing anything. They want the listener to face the darker sides of America which belong to the positive aspects as well.
How did musical Theatre change West Side Story?
Arguably, its greatest influence was in the theatricality of its presentation—the seamlessness and cinematic flow of its staging—and the integration of script, song, dance, and set. In its original Broadway run, West Side Story ran for 732 performances—a success, but not a smash hit.
What genre is West Side Story?
Musical
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West Side Story/Genres
West Side Story is a 2021 American musical romantic drama film directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Tony Kushner.
What is the role of the composer of West Side Story?
Leonard Bernstein was a composer who was able to write music in many different styles, including classical, pop and jazz. In many of his works you can hear all these styles combined into one piece. Think about some of the music you listen to today. Many songs borrow from different styles of music.
Why was West Side Story innovative?
Narrative dances had appeared in musicals for many years, but the bold innovation of West Side Story is that it uses dance to tell most of the story. This powerful way of moving had been developed in two previous Robbins/Bernstein collaborations: the ballet, Fancy Free , and the musical they made from it, On The Town.
What influenced West Side Story?
It is widely known that West Side Story (WSS) is based directly on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (R&J). Far less well known is the fact that Shakespeare based his play (1594) on other material, particularly a narrative poem by Arthur Brooke entitled The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet (1562).
Who sings for Tony in West Side Story?
James Howard Bryant (born June 2, 1929) is an American singer, arranger and composer. He is most well known for providing the singing voice of Tony (played onscreen by Richard Beymer) in the 1961 film musical West Side Story.
Who choreographed the dance at the gym in West Side Story?
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s dances for the Broadway revival swarm and sweep, but Robbins’s choreography was something more central: the libretto. “The Dance at the Gym” number from the 1957 production of “West Side Story,” with Jerome Robbins’s choreography.
What are the opening shots of West Side Story?
The opening shots of West Side Story set the scene for the film, dropping the viewer down in New York City. We see New York shot from high above; the streets, buildings, and bridges make tidy geometric shapes, and the cars are as small as insects, moving along in tidy rows.
Is dancing the true star of ‘West Side Story?
So while the stellar combination of Leonard Bernstein’s music and Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics endures, dancing has always been the true star of “West Side Story,” where the overheated body is the reason these young men and women, so full of nerves and pride, are ready to burst out of their skin.
What song does Tony sing at the end of West Side Story?
As Riff leaves, Tony sings a song about his feeling of expectancy and anticipation (“Something’s Coming”). The opening shots of West Side Story set the scene for the film, dropping the viewer down in New York City.