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West Side Story, filmed in 1961, was one of the most ground-breaking works not only in terms of subject and genre, but also in terms of the boundaries it broke with its musical scores and choreography. Indeed, the film's dance sequences often form part of its plot. Its musical scores depict the deep distrust and underlying violence in the uneasy truces between the street gangs whose members form the basic plot background of the film. What is most interesting is that the film not only broke the romantic plot norm with its "Romeo and Juliet" story, it also broke some norms in the minds and physical exertions of its dancers. One example of such norm defiance is "Cool," one of the songs just before full violence broke out between the gangs and the final tragedy of its outcome.
The first and most important pioneering element of the dance sequences in the film is the "dance-fight" sequences, in which both fights and other everyday movements are portrayed by dance. In "Cool," dance is used as a pre-violence way to blow off some of the frustrations that have built up between...
What is interesting is that not only the movements, but the words and rhythm of the song itself interact with its main theme, which is to cool down and to let go of immediate urges to fight and destroy at random, but rather to focus the pent up anger towards a common and focused goal. Indeed, this is a break from the norm that is the case throughout the film. Both the dance and song sequences follow plot lines based upon a deep sense of discontent, unhappiness, and ultimate violence. At the time, this represented a break from the upbeat norm that was generally the trend among popular musicals.
Technically, the music reflected the unusual themes treated by the musical. Leonard Bernstein's music, for example, used time signatures such as 5/4, 6/8, and 25/6 time, which made it very difficult for the dancers to interpret through their art. Nevertheless, careful choreography created a platform for a truly new form of dance throughout the film, which was never to be used as a happy, conventional…
References
Sivitz, R. (2007, Apr. 24). An Analysis of West Side Story's Songs "Cool" and "America." Retrieved from: http://voices.yahoo.com/an-analysis-west-side-storys-songs-cool-america-50871.html
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Singer, Barry. "In Yiddish Music, a Return to Roots of Torment and Joy." New York Times (August 16, 1998): 32. In this article, Barry Singer notes the changes Yiddish music underwent as Jews emigrated from Europe to America, and compares the evolving nature of Yiddish folk songs during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to more recent developments in Yiddish music. This article is useful because it allows one to trace an unbroken