Dance and Physicality in West Side Story
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There are many films that have been made throughout the years that specialize in highlighting the notion of physical performances on film. Whether through physical violence, comedy, characterization, or dance, these films have all made a unique contribution in their own unique way towards creating some truly great physical performance masterpieces. In this paper, I am going to discuss one such physical masterpiece West Side Story. Specifically, I am going to focus on this film's historical context, explore the journey this film has taken from the theatre to film, and examine the extreme importance of physical performance within this film's musical theatre genre. Overall, I am going to highlight how the use of dance and physicality in West Side Story is the very element that succeeded in making it into the well-known and beloved film that it is today.
The idea for the stage production of West Side Story was originally conceived in 1949 by the widely-known director and choreographer Jerome Robbins. Robbins wanted to create a musical that would be a modern adaptation of William Shakespeare's classic ill-fated love story Romeo and Juliet. However in his production, Robbins envisioned the romance as taking place between a Jewish boy and an Irish Catholic girl in the Lower East Side of New York City. Robbins sought the assistance of the distinguished composer Leonard Bernstein and writer Arthur Laurents to join him in his endeavors. However, all three had to put this new production of 'East Side Story' on hold in order to take care of prior commitments in each of their lives...