Wise Men Say…

Journal 30; April 6, 2009

We really can’t help who we fall in love with. It seems to be that fate picks the most inopportune person at the most inopportune time and says “you will love this person and there is nothing you can do about it.” In Romeo and Juliet, the “star-crossed lovers” found love only to have it taken away from them due to ignorance and hatred. Taking this story to the modern era, West Side Story tells the tale of Maria (Josefina Scaglione) and Tony (Matt Cavenaugh), two teenagers who find love despite their different ethnic backgrounds. Bringing together the Jets, a gang of young American boys with the Sharks, a gang of recent Puerto Rican immigrants, this musical brings together two very different music, and dance styles from two very different music traditions. Altogether, this musical is about joining unlike things in a way you wouldn’t expect to work at first glance, but for some invariable reason they do.

The dance follows this parent in the most obvious way. Though a person could easily point at the costumes, the speech patterns, the different styles of hair between the Jets and the Sharks and say that this is a racial divide, but this is not a complete depiction. The difference here seems to be a cultural one, and the dancing, even though done within similar age groups, is different from culture to culture. The Puerto Ricans favor the more ethnic dances, moving from the stark stomping and clapping of the flamenco to the quick shuffle of the mambo, salsa and meringue, most especially during the Mambo Dance in the school gym. The Jets however, prefer 20^th century American dances like the Charleston, the jitterbug, swing and tap. While these would seem to be so contrasting as to create two different scenes occurring side by side with no similarities, they don’t, and the dance moves them from opposing circles (once while they are forced to switch to “unlike” partners, and again when they crowd around in two different circles) begin to move together by the end of the song.

The contemporary dancing, moves that were neither exotically-induced nor early 20^th century American were the types of dances that couldn’t be classified into either group. Hands that had been glued to the sides of the dancers or cocked in half-fists opened for the first time. This feeling of togetherness by shedding animosities can be clearly seen in the song “Somewhere” performed by a Tony and Maria wishing for a world without boundaries, and both the dancing and costumes reflect this. Instead of leaps punctuated by kicks or sweeping, slashing arms, the dancers soar through the air wearing white colors, no longer tied to either a pride-riddled homecountry or an obsession with the American Dream.

The songs reflected the back and forth motion of the two cultures, switching between Latin and swing, all played over a big band orchestra. Songs like “America” captured the essence of the flamenco, the quick staccato-like lyrics accompanied a more-than traditional dance, as the women dancing spoke about rising above that land which they came from, Puerto Rico. Other songs like “Cool” showed the other side of the tracks and played a jazz melody for the American Jet boys, snapping their fingers along to the beat. There was also an operatic feel to some of the melodies; some involving the love between Tony and Maria had a showstopping quality to the notes, high and sustained as opposed to most of the other songs, heightened-tensions with a fast pace. Perhaps the intent with using these types of songs for Tony and Maria was to show that their love existed beyond all boundaries and time periods.

It is interesting to think that this is based off of Romeo and Juliet. The fights were the same, the notices of peril and affectations of love, but in my head I wasn’t really seeing Romeo or Juliet onstage: for what it was worth, these were more real people. I think back to Romeo and Juliet, that foolish feud between the Capulets and Montagues, and I wonder why anyone would get into such a ridiculous contest, pitting men and women against each other for the sheer sport of it, choosing superficial differences to unite and divide. Both plays show that love is possible even amidst so much hate, but neither of these loves last. Tony is murdered by his “Paris,” instead of the other way around, and in both stories the lovers lose. In a lot of ways we leave the theatre with a broad definition of love, spanning ages, bringing people together in miraculous ways, but also breaking our hearts in its sudden dispensation, its disappearance and whimsical nature. We have no idea how people survive after this sort of love.

I guess Shakespeare showed that they couldn’t.

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