In West Side Story’s opening scene ‘The Prologue’ we are introduced to two rival gangs The Jets and The Sharks. We see the Jets for the first time as they move swiftly and calmly through their neighbourhood performing smooth low level step ball changes and drag walks. Their movements develop, becoming bigger and sharper and when they meet their enemy for the first time they freeze in a low confrontational lunge which is mirrored by the musical accompaniment suddenly changing to silence. New York City’s battling neighbourhoods during the 1950’s became one of Jerome Robbins’ key influences and we see this clearly throughout the opening scene. His choreography visibly depicts the beginnings of a ‘turf battle’ between the rival gangs, establishing not only the emotional climate for the play that follows but also provides a warning of some of the impending action.
As the lengthy ‘Prologue’ scene develops, the extent of the gang’s hatred for each other becomes much more evident through the choreography and use of physical setting. Towards the end of the scene we see Baby John, a member of the Jets, writing on a wall ‘The Sharks stink’, when suddenly he is surrounded by four members of the Sharks. He is then chased across the basketball court being pushed to the ground and kicked by his rivals. This represents the influences of gang violence and allows the audience to immediately see the dramatic feud between the gangs.
Immigration was another of Robbins’s key influences as it was an uprising problem during the 1950’s time period. Following on from the ‘Prologue’ the gangs arrange a meeting at a dance held in the neighbourhood gymnasium for the purpose of arranging the time, place and weapons for a major gang fight, or "rumble". A climactic point is here reached with an exciting mambo dance. The Shark women swiftly break off and perform their rendition of the mambo walking forward with their right arm in a high fifth position into stomping actions with use of the hips. The women perform these specific movements to represent and reflect their Puerto Rican and Latin heritage. When the Jets perform their mambo dance their movements are devoid of these Spanish links, again portraying the link of immigration to West Side Story.
West Side Story transfers Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to present-day New York. The love story of Romeo and Juliet becomes that of Maria and Tony. During the climactic mambo scene the audience witness Maria and Tony meeting for the first time. As the other gang members fade into the back ground and the music softens, the pair walk slowly and apprehensively over towards one another and like Romeo and Juliet, they are transported into a moment of romantic suspension. They perform a simple a step across step dig, at first in opposite directions then eventually moving on to mirror each other’s movements.The romantic idyll is interrupted when Bernardo roughly pulls his sister from Tony's arms, directly replicating the scene where Juliet is pulled away from Romeo by her cousin Tybolt.
Anita, Bernardo and the rest of The Sharks are gathered on a city rooftop, where they express conflicting views about their lives in New York City. The women exclaim about their love for America and the men contradict this because of how they are treated, another direct link to immigration and its influences on Robbins. Not dissimilar to ‘Dance at the Gym’ the Shark men and women demonstrate their Puerto Rican heritage, performing a spectacular dance scene where both sides come together using found sound (clapping) to enhance their movement. The men and women perform two side step taps into step ball changes forwards, before coming together to finish in a lift where the women are lifted high with their left knee bent and right arm in a high fifth position. A light-hearted dance scene where we see the Puerto Ricans openly discussing the pros and cons of immigrating to America.
Robbins took influence from many real life situations when choreographing West Side Story, none more so than the ‘Rumble’. The explosive rumble scene sees the two rival gangs coming together to fight over territory, a position many street gangs in the 1950’s found themselves regularly in. As Riff dives at Bernardo pushing him forcefully to the floor, he pulls out a knife and goes to stab him. Tony rapidly pulls Riff off Bernardo dragging him back through the other gang members. Riff lunges at Tony and breaks free, immediately he runs for Bernardo but in a dramatic twist he is stabbed freezing with his arms over his head.This scene again has links to Romeo and Juliet as well as illustrating many real life murders that took place in Hell’s Kitchen, downtown New York.
Robbins worked with numerous choreographers during his career, many of them having profound influences on him and his professional works. During the dance scene ‘Cool’ we see the Jets trying to calm down after the ‘Rumble’. Performing a smooth high kick on the left leg into sharp flicking kicks with their arms shooting up into high parallel, the Jets choreography not only told us a story but also perfectly correlated with the musical accompaniment. As the Jets try to stay cool the music replicates their movements and is calm with a steady beat, when the Jets ‘lose their cool’ and break into sharp forceful actions the music again imitates and explodes creating tension. Robbins undoubtedly took inspiration for this section from George Balanchine, someone who had a great influence on his career as choreographer. Balanchine’s style famously was all about the movement relating to the music a clear idea running throughout the scene ‘Cool’.