West Side Story Symphonic Dances Reading Score
Hither's all y'all need to know about Bernstein's Due west Side Story Symphonic Dances, our second major collaboration with leading contemporary trip the light fantastic toe company Phoenix Dance Theatre…
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Who was the composer?
Composer Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) was a giant of American musical theatre.
His smash hitting W Side Story, inspired by Shakespeare'southward Romeo and Juliet only assail the streets of New York among rival gangs, marked a real theatrical turning signal when it premiered in 1957. Its extended dance sequences and focus on real social bug were amid many things that broke new ground, and it was an enormous commercial success.
Leonard Bernstein c. 1955
How did it come about?
Bernstein began assembling the Symphonic Dances from West Side Story in early 1961, initially for a New York Philharmonic fundraising gala concert.
His collaborators Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal, who had both just worked on W Side Story for its flick version, suggested sections of the score to include and assisted with the orchestration, with Bernstein overseeing the overall edit. The outcome is these ix movements:
Prologue(Allegro moderato)
'Somewhere' (Adagio)
Scherzo (Vivace eastward leggiero)
Mambo (Meno Presto)
Cha-Cha(Andantino con grazia)
Meeting Scene(Meno mosso)
'Cool' Fugue(Allegretto)
Rumble (Molto allegro)
Finale (Adagio)
Matthew Topliss and One thousand thousand Lumsden in rehearsals for Due west Side Story Symphonic Dances © Camilla Greenwell
What is the music like?
The movements of the Symphonic Dances practise non not appear in the order they do in the show – Bernstein re-arranged them to course an entirely new, continuous sequence for musical reasons. The result is more weight on the music associated with gang conflict than on the honey story. Withal, you'll spot two of the most popular romantic numbers: "Somewhere" and "Maria" (in the Cha-Cha department).
To bring the dance rhythms of West Side Story zinging to life, Bernstein and his orchestrators used colourful instrumental combinations, a vast percussion section (including bongos, cowbells, maracas and a constabulary whistle), and even the voices of the orchestra members – who have to shout "mambo"! Like the musical, the suite ends with a haunting, unresolved chord.
"The music is so dynamic and full of motion, information technology's hard non to go carried abroad by its energy as it packs such a powerful and emotional punch!" — Choreographer Dane Hurst
What is the choreography like?
This new work past South African-born Dane Hurst (Artistic Director of Phoenix Dance Theatre) stars 12 dancers. It is independent of the narrative of West Side Story, but explores a lot of the same underlying themes such as conflict and violence, young people's need to find their identity in a group, and their dreams and aspirations. In item, the piece of work uses the early years of apartheid in South Africa (1950s-60s), that fourth dimension of enforced racial segregation, injustice, and conflict, as its catalyst:
"I recollect trip the light fantastic tin can make us come across ourselves in the characters on stage and cause the states to ask what are we doing, what have nosotros done, how are we behaving in terms of where the globe is going." — Choreographer Dane Hurst
Artistic Director Dane Hurst in rehearsals for West Side Story Symphonic Dances © Camilla Greenwell
What are the set and costumes like?
The rough edges of city life are portrayed past a hard set of wood and metal, with walls that movement and facilitate the idea of sectionalisation in the piece – united states of america and them, male and female, blackness and white. Dancers both crash into these walls and utilise them for support.
The set has been painted past graffiti artist Hyro in vibrant colours (at work below), which contrasts with the monochrome palette of the residue of the product, while costumes accept a 1960s feel.
W Side Story Symphonic Dances will be presented in a double nib with Bernstein's curt opera Trouble in Tahiti. Linking the two pieces volition be a reading of a new poem by literary activist and theatre maker Khadijah Ibrahiim. Join in on social media with #BernsteinDoubleBill
Source: https://www.operanorth.co.uk/news/introduction-to-west-side-story-symphonic-dances/
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