You are all currently listening to the Prologue, or opening number to the world renown musical West Side Story. West Side Story is one of my favorite musicals, hence why I have this record, and have seen it numerous times, because it is not only a beautiful production, filled with expressive dance and music, but it also addresses some critical social issues. The musical takes place in Manhattan, and puts a contemporary spin, or at least contemporary for the 50’s, on the Shakespearean love story, Romeo and Juliet. The star-crossed lovers in this story are Tony and Maria, who are each tied to the warring gangs, the Sharks and the Jets. Arthur Laurents, a playwright, screen writer and director, came up with the plot for West Side Story, after
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In the opening scene that introduces the Sharks and the Jets, the the tensions between the two gangs is shown through the choreography. In the “Prologue” through simply snapping their fingers as the they prowl through town, the Jets establish their dominance before the Sharks are even introduced. Their dance moves progressively get bigger and more showy as the Sharks and Jets get aggressive with each other. Their first gang fight begins with a dance choreographed to portray the fight. Bernstein referred to the style they used as “plot-dancing”, much of the fight and action scenes of the musical are told through intricate dance moves. Similar to the music in scenes like the “Dance at the Gym”, the choreography differentiates between the Jets and the Sharks, the Jets doing a more of a swing style dance while the Sharks do a Latin inspired dance. In an academic journal, Irene Dash, a Shakespearean scholar, is quoted saying the exaggerated way they dance gives insight to their characters, the same way the exaggerated language Shakespeare uses. Showing one of the many elements of the musical that is shared with Romeo and …show more content…
Being gang members, both the Sharks and Jets have issues with society, in fact, their mutual issues with authority are the only common ground they appear to have at first. After the opening brawl is broken up by Lieutenant Shrank, both gangs act as a united front against the police. This is a reoccurring theme, with both gangs faking friendship infront of the police to avoid any conflict with them. Even when the police mistreat the Puerto-Rican immigrants, the Jets seem to take notice of their racism. In the Jets song “Gee Officer Krupke”, the Jets poke fun at how “delinquents like themselves” are dealt with by society. While their take on it is comedic, it makes an important statement about how these kids were treated as though they had a “social disease”, making them useless and cast aside by these authority figures such as therapists and social workers, who are supposed to watch out for them. At the same time, one line in the song says “It’s not I’m anti-social, I’m only anti-work.” showing that these kids aren’t innocent in their issues. One of the most famous and prominent issues the musical talks about was how the Puerto-Rican immigrants were treated. The song “America” involves the Puerto-Rican women arguing with the Puerto-Rican men about whether or not America truly holds the greatness the immigrants were promised when they came here. The
In the opening scene that introduces the Sharks and the Jets, the the tensions between the two gangs is shown through the choreography. In the “Prologue” through simply snapping their fingers as the they prowl through town, the Jets establish their dominance before the Sharks are even introduced. Their dance moves progressively get bigger and more showy as the Sharks and Jets get aggressive with each other. Their first gang fight begins with a dance choreographed to portray the fight. Bernstein referred to the style they used as “plot-dancing”, much of the fight and action scenes of the musical are told through intricate dance moves. Similar to the music in scenes like the “Dance at the Gym”, the choreography differentiates between the Jets and the Sharks, the Jets doing a more of a swing style dance while the Sharks do a Latin inspired dance. In an academic journal, Irene Dash, a Shakespearean scholar, is quoted saying the exaggerated way they dance gives insight to their characters, the same way the exaggerated language Shakespeare uses. Showing one of the many elements of the musical that is shared with Romeo and …show more content…
Being gang members, both the Sharks and Jets have issues with society, in fact, their mutual issues with authority are the only common ground they appear to have at first. After the opening brawl is broken up by Lieutenant Shrank, both gangs act as a united front against the police. This is a reoccurring theme, with both gangs faking friendship infront of the police to avoid any conflict with them. Even when the police mistreat the Puerto-Rican immigrants, the Jets seem to take notice of their racism. In the Jets song “Gee Officer Krupke”, the Jets poke fun at how “delinquents like themselves” are dealt with by society. While their take on it is comedic, it makes an important statement about how these kids were treated as though they had a “social disease”, making them useless and cast aside by these authority figures such as therapists and social workers, who are supposed to watch out for them. At the same time, one line in the song says “It’s not I’m anti-social, I’m only anti-work.” showing that these kids aren’t innocent in their issues. One of the most famous and prominent issues the musical talks about was how the Puerto-Rican immigrants were treated. The song “America” involves the Puerto-Rican women arguing with the Puerto-Rican men about whether or not America truly holds the greatness the immigrants were promised when they came here. The