{"id":3343,"date":"2020-09-28T17:51:48","date_gmt":"2020-09-28T17:51:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pashakespeare.org\/?p=3343"},"modified":"2020-09-28T17:51:48","modified_gmt":"2020-09-28T17:51:48","slug":"stephen-casey-takes-a-step-in-time-recreating-jerome-robbins-choreography-for-west-side-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pashakespeare.org\/press\/stephen-casey-takes-a-step-in-time-recreating-jerome-robbins-choreography-for-west-side-story\/","title":{"rendered":"STEPHEN CASEY TAKES A STEP IN TIME: RECREATING JEROME ROBBINS\u2019 CHOREOGRAPHY FOR WEST SIDE STORY"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Stephen Casey Takes a Step in Time
\nRecreating Jerome Robbins\u2019 Choreography for West Side Story<\/strong><\/h2>\n

By Lisa Higgins<\/em><\/p>\n

The futility of intolerance.<\/strong><\/p>\n

All the dance, all the music, and all the words that make\u00a0West Side Story<\/em>\u00a0the singular achievement it is, for Jerome Robbins\u2014who conceived, then choreographed and directed the show\u2014the central theme is simply \u201cthe futility of intolerance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps this fundamental idea propelled the geniuses who created\u00a0West Side Story<\/em>\u00a0to produce some of their greatest work. \u201cI don\u2019t know what was in the back of their minds, these guys were so career-driven\u2014but nobody thought (West Side Story<\/em>) was going to be a hit,\u201d Gerald Freedman, Robbins\u2019 assistant director, told Robbins\u2019 biographer. \u201cThey weren\u2019t working for a hit. They knew this was some strange animal, so that they could pour themselves into it, and it was only about excellence.\u201d<\/p>\n

In gestation during the early 1950s when \u201cBroadway was still tied in many ways to the old leggs-and-laffs tradition,\u201d\u00a0West Side Story\u00a0<\/em>was shaped in part by Robbins\u2019 emergence from the world of classical ballet, paired with composer Leonard Bernstein\u2019s enormous talents in classical music.<\/p>\n

\u201cRobbins was of both worlds\u2014prolific in classical ballet and Broadway,\u201d says Stephen Casey, who returns to PSF to recreate Robbins\u2019 original choreography. \u201cHe merged book, music, character, and score, and made them seamless.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn\u00a0West Side Story<\/em>, the opening scene begins with a dance. Robbins loved movement that came from simple actions, like walking, strolling, running, and more technical movement evolved from those actions to tell a story,\u201d Casey says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the prologue, you see Jets on a street. Their walk becomes a snap, a snap becomes a glide, and the glide becomes the iconic \u2018sailing step\u2019 of the Jets. Then in the background, you see the angle of the Sharks\u2019 elbows, and before anyone opens their mouth to speak or sing, the story is told through movement and dance.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to maintain Robbins\u2019 staging and choreography because it\u2019s so integral to the story.\u201d The dancing in\u00a0West Side Story<\/em>\u00a0exceeds the dancing in any other musical PSF has produced by light years. Similar to the way\u00a0Les Mis\u00e9rables<\/em>\u00a0was the most challenging singing production PSF has ever produced,\u00a0West Side Story<\/em>\u00a0is the most challenging dancing show, Casey says. \u201cRestaging someone else\u2019s choreography is a huge responsibility,\u201d he says. \u201cYou have an obligation to do it right. You\u2019re passing on a legacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cDancers have to know why they\u2019re doing what they\u2019re doing: it can\u2019t just be about the steps.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cWith Robbins\u2019 choreography, it\u2019s not just the steps, it\u2019s how they move together and how they weave together. It\u2019s highly physical and athletic and very complicated in its design.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s not all, Casey says: \u201cThe choreography is very challenging musically and the dancers must understand the score completely. It\u2019s not 5, 6, 7, 8: the meter changes constantly, the accents change constantly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Casey, who created the choreography and some of the musical staging for\u00a0Les Miz\u00a0<\/em>last season as well as for PSF\u2019s\u00a0Oklahoma!<\/em>,\u00a0A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum<\/em>, and\u00a01776<\/em>, previously had the challenge of recreating Robbins\u2019 choreography for PSF\u2019s 2014 production of\u00a0Fiddler on the Roof\u2014<\/em>all productions that were directed by Dennis Razze, associate artistic director.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have worked with Stephen on so many shows now,\u201d says Razze, \u201cit\u2019s like we are an extension of each other. Stephen is a fantastic choreographer\u2014he works fast, can recall every step, every count by heart, and is terrifically clear about what he wants from an actor or a dancer.\u201d Razze continues, \u201cStephen has made it his business to study every aspect of Robbins\u2019 choreography for this show and not only knows the movement but what each movement communicates about the story or the characters. He\u2019s absolutely brilliant.\u201d<\/p>\n

The depth and range of Casey\u2019s knowledge about Robbins and his work reflects Casey\u2019s own artistry in addition to honoring Robbins. \u201cRobbins went from American ballet to musical theatre to film. He did it all. How can you do all that in one lifetime?<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you say to genius?\u201d<\/p>\n

Robbins\u2019 vast collection of work tells many stories. And in\u00a0West Side Story<\/em>, his brilliant adaptation of Shakespeare\u2019s\u00a0Romeo and Juliet<\/em>, Robbins\u2019 choreography indeed reveals the futility of intolerance.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stephen Casey Takes a Step in Time Recreating Jerome Robbins\u2019 Choreography for West Side Story By Lisa Higgins The futility of intolerance. All the dance, all the music, and all the words that make\u00a0West Side Story\u00a0the singular achievement it is, for Jerome Robbins\u2014who conceived, then choreographed and directed the show\u2014the central theme is simply \u201cthe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2016-season"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSTEPHEN CASEY TAKES A STEP IN TIME: RECREATING JEROME ROBBINS\u2019 CHOREOGRAPHY FOR WEST SIDE STORY - Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pashakespeare.org\/press\/stephen-casey-takes-a-step-in-time-recreating-jerome-robbins-choreography-for-west-side-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"STEPHEN CASEY TAKES A STEP IN TIME: RECREATING JEROME ROBBINS\u2019 CHOREOGRAPHY FOR WEST SIDE STORY - Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Stephen Casey Takes a Step in Time Recreating Jerome Robbins\u2019 Choreography for West Side Story By Lisa Higgins The futility of intolerance. 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