The Dance-Musical Side Of West Side Story

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Film Genre: The Dance-Musical Side of West Side Story Within Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise’s film West Side Story (1961), elements of crime and drama are noted; however, even as the sub-genres play-out in the movie, it is evident that this piece is a dance-musical. This essay will demonstrate how this work is deemed predominantly under the musical genre, as well as how the sub-genres appear in the picture. The main genre of West Side Story being a dance-musical is exhibited throughout the movie regardless as to what situation the actors are playing. For instance, during a fight scene between an American gang (the Jets with Riff as their leader) and a Latino gang (the Sharks with Bernardo as their leader), the two rivals dance their way through a rumble as music blares in a violent tempo. In two separate scenes the main characters, Tony and Maria, the sing about their love for each other. Here, the music is soft and smooth. Even when one of the characters dies there is no dancing going on, but the death scene is played initially in striking and anxious music, and then drops to a very slow and sad pace as Tony lays dying. …show more content…

For the women, their dresses are all A-line in form, which is typical for dance routines Latin in influence. The shoes the women wear are distinctive for dance routines such as ballroom dancing. The heel of the shoe is approximately two inches high, which is just high enough to accentuate a female dancer’s legs and yet not so high as to make her turn her ankle. As for the males, their costumes are form-fitting, yet lose enough for the many twists, turns, and jumps that are performed during their dance routines. The shoes worn by the male actors were usually flat and some of them wore

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