"We are such stuff as dreams are made on."
-- The Tempest
William Shakespeare
(Web Host's note: While I could write page after glowing page on the topic of the much-admired and little-seen Dream Ballet, how much better to have a few words from the talented people who actually appeared in it, under the direction of either Jerome Robbins or one of his dedicated successors. Here are some first-hand memories of the beloved piece that is unknown to the majority of the musical's audience. My humble thanks go to these special and generous folks for this unique and valued contribution.)
DAVID WINTERS
"The 'Somewhere' Ballet is the only part in the entire show that is fantasy. The rest of the piece is rooted in reality. This is one of those moments that were made for Jerry Robbins to shine, and he does so magnificently.
"The Ballet is one of the true highlights of the show and I always feel somehow cheated when I watch the film and it is not a part of it. It says so much about the feelings, emotions and aspirations of all of the characters in the film. It is the only time we go inside their minds and get a feeling of the desperation that they all feel, where it is expressed only in dance form.
"It is Jerry at his best, and a brilliant piece of staging on his part. This is truly the genius Robbins at play in his own sandbox.
"It was taken out of the film because they (The Big Guys in Hollywood) did not think that the middle of the road audience would sit still for such a fantasy in the center of such a film. They thought it would hurt the commercial value of the film. I for one think that they were wrong but we will never know.
"It is also the only time we have some beauty in the show, which is otherwise a non-stop assault on your senses. The music of Lenny and the accompanying orchestrations are awesome and you are riveted to your seat. No one ever left their seat during this part of the show.
"I loved being in the 'Somewhere' Ballet in the original Broadway production. It helped me create my character as Baby John to a much fuller degree. I felt trapped and wanted to break out of the ghetto and my own personal situation. I felt a camaraderie with the other guys during this piece even though I had so little to do in it.
"This moment made it all real for Baby John and frightening to him.
"I feel sorry for all those that only see the film and do not get to see this particular piece of magic by THE MASTER, the one and only Jerry Robbins."
[DAVID WINTERS appeared as Baby John in the original Broadway cast and was A-rab in the film version.]
TONY MORDENTE
"The second act Ballet was my favorite work of Jerry's in West Side Story. Back in the old days musicals always had a ballet sequence in the second act, and West Side Story was no different. It was the only time in the play that the fire escapes disappeared. We had blue sky. During "There's a place for us" Jets danced with Sharks, mirroring the Cha Cha from the first act, except the partners were mixed. Carol and Larry were not dancers, but they danced the pas de deux beautifully. I remember that Herbie Ross and his wife Nora Kaye, who was a ballerina for Ballet Theatre, said to Jerry to take the Ballet out -- people would not get it! Wow were they wrong. We were so glad that Jerry did not listen to them. People told me they cried during the Ballet. It was not my favorite to dance, I was ususally tired after the first act, so being lazy I would have liked to have rested for the second act. But when it came time for the Ballet, I never wanted anybody to take my place. We all did have pride in what we did every night. I was not happy they did not put it in the movie, but at least people can still see it when a production is playing. I think if it were in the movie, we would still be shooting it! And if Jerry were not there to direct it, it would have been a disaster."
[TONY MORDENTE created the role of A-rab on Broadway and in London and appeared as Action in the film. He has also choreographed the show in several stock productions throughout the United States.]
MADELINE REISS
"I remember when rehearsals started for the West Side Story ballet. Some people had been in a West Side Story before but this was my first time. We had ballet class as a company in the mornings before rehearsals. Richard Caceres, the choreographer, taught. (He was also getting ready to assist Jerome Robbins at that time, for the West Side Story portion of The Robbins Project.) Some people resented having to take ballet class but I loved it, though I am mostly a theater dancer I am ballet trained, so it felt good. I guess we didn't realize at that time that he was kind of casting the Ballet for Act II.
"He chose six of us who were very tall. We had a tall cast to begin with but usually the shorter women would do the lifts etc. So here I was doing the original choreography and I was feeling very... long! (I'm 5'8 but read about 5'10 on stage) I had a great partner who was as eager to get it right as I was and although we were Shark and Jet there was a comfort between us that made it feel really special and seamless most of the time. One night my dress got in the way and I slipped out of his grasp. We had to do part of it with my feet on the floor. We stayed connected and 'in the moment' and kept going. Later we both tried to apologize for the mistake and then just let it go. It was some of the most moving and beautiful and difficult dancing I've ever loved doing. I still get a thrill when I hear the music. Those steps are in my body for ever! No choreographer after that run ever cast the tall girls! I will always feel special and appreciated by Richard for having had the vision to cast us for our ability rather than our measurement."
[MADELINE REISS appeared as Marguerita in the 1988 Cleveland Opera production, directed by Richard Caceres, and as Consuelo in the 1991 European tour, directed by Alan Johnson.]
KATE DOWE
"I first learned sections of the Somewhere Ballet in two summer American Dancemachine workshops run by Lee Theodore in New York when I was a teenager. Lee taught the 'Scherzo' and a few other moments from the 'Pas de Six' and 'Breathing' sections as parts of her repertoire classes. On the final day of the workshops, we all sang 'Somewhere' together, looking into each others' eyes. I remember watching her watch us sing the song, and even her tough visage - hardened by years of intense, old-school training and cigarette smoke - softened and welled up at the lyrics. She was passing the torch to a new generation, passing on her passion for and understanding of this piece that clearly meant so much to her and to theatre dance history.
"Years later, I was cast in Alan Johnson's European tour, and as a 5'7" swing, I had the honor of learning and performing the Scherzo (generally reserved for shorter dancers) and the Pas de Six (generally reserved for the taller ones). The most fascinating thing about learning this piece is the sheer number of images included in the choreography.
"During the opening sequence, immediately after Tony and Maria finish singing, 'Somewhere there's got to be someplace for you and for me,' we see a set of Doors moving downstage which Tony and Maria break through, releasing 'rats,' a crowd of dancers running chaotically and moving as if pulling spiderwebs away from in front of their faces. Then the fire escapes fly, the doors and walls disappear, and Tony and Maria meet in front of a beautiful sky in a vast, open space like these city kids have never seen before. Already, the fact that this is a magical, shared dream is vibrantly clear.
"During the Scherzo, Anybodys and four other Jets and Sharks, now dancing and playing together like the children they are, drag their toes in the sand, paint rainbows with their hands, run quickly switching directions like puppies in the grass, dance in circles like carousel horses, and are joined by all the other gang members in a Big Circle, which, as Lee always said, involves dragging one foot behind and leaving their mark in the earth (something these kids could never do in their asphalt jungle lives) and then leaping skyward in joy. What simple, yet tremendous imagery for a dancer to play!
"The Pas de Six is similarly rich in partnering imagery and supports the beautiful lyrics of Somewhere, usually sung by an offstage soprano, but occasionally sung by a tenor so that it sounds like Tony singing to Maria. Tony and Maria dance with two other mixed-gang couples, offering such images as boys catching girls in trust falls, offering and taking hands with each other to move forward as a team, running free. Again, so simple and effective.
"The entire stage is then slowly filled with the company of dancers. They all witness or take part in Tony and Maria's wedding procession (which eerily predicts the funeral procession of the final scene), then wander about until a single note turns them all downstage to see the future. The full company softly sings the Breathing section, 'There's a place for us' in a round. The dancers end suspended , on tiptoe, on the precipice of what might be. The ghosts of Riff and Bernardo enter in silence and raise their knives, the fire escapes fly in, the real world encroaching. Tony, Maria, and the company briefly try to hang onto hope, to this beautiful, peaceful place before the Nightmare takes over. We quickly see the rumble re-enacted and Tony and Maria reach toward each other before they fall past each other into a sea of rats. Just as quickly, they are back in Maria's bedroom, surrounded by the city, clinging to each other. We understand the journey they have taken so clearly. Robbins' choreography is gold.
"As a teacher of theatre dance, I now take every opportunity available to pass some of this choreography on to the next generation of dancers. And as a choreographer, I try to construct dances that are loaded with images that allow dancers to act. Lee Theodore taught me the power of the Somewhere Ballet choreography, and I only hope that I can teach it to others."
[KATE DOWE appeared as Velma in the European tour of 1992-1993, directed by Alan Johnson.]
ROBERT ARDITTI
"What the Ballet means to me!
"Way back when I was at the start of my young life I was lucky enough to get into the original London production of West Side Story. I was given the role of Baby John, which looking back on it could have been written for me. He is probably the nicest Jet of all, and his is one of those lives that would have been great if only he wasn't on the West Side of New York.
"As a young person I went to the Ballet Rambert, and then I was trained by the Federation of Russian Classical Ballet, Tamara Kasavina being one of my teachers. I always felt at home with Ballet so the second half of West Side Story was a place where I was very comfortable.
"The largest part of Act Two of the show is a very complex dream Ballet. As Baby John I got to dance what was termed the Transition, then the Scherzo and then the Nightmare. I must say for me the best part was the Ballet danced to 'Somewhere.' That was not part of my role but every night I would stand in the wings and watch Lina Soriano perform this part of the Ballet with so much grace and love that she looked like an angel.
"Of course Lina was no angel; in fact at my tender age I found most of the cast a bit intimidating. The way that I learned the show was two weeks of David Bean teaching me the steps plus watching the show from the front every night. The Ballet was the one part of the show where I felt safe. I didn't have to fight, or talk with an American accent, and I could just dance and be free. This is of course what the Ballet is all about, being free, feeling your feet in the sand at the beach, breathing in the fresh air of the country.
"However, my biggest shock came within my first week of the show. David Bean, who was the Dance Captain, came to me before the performance began and asked me if I thought I could dance the “Somewhere” Ballet. I had this vision of being taught it as a standby in case somebody was off. As they say on the Internet: LOL.
"Not wishing to let anybody down I told David that if he taught it to me I was sure I could do it. I really didn't want to let anybody think I was a wimp and I wanted to impress the person that had been so patient with me when he was teaching me the show, David Bean.
"'Good!' said David; as though a weight had been taken from his shoulders. He went on, 'Lina's partner is off tonight, so after the Scherzo you enter with Lina and dance the "Somewhere" Ballet.' Now this really wasn't what I had envisioned at all. Maybe a few weeks away I might be OK but to have to do it there and then was to say the least a shock for this green soon-to-be 15-year-old from London. I thought of those lifts; every one of them a task on its own but for me who was not that used to lifts, they seemed impossible, and to do them with Lina? Forget it.
"Lina came in early and we went over the steps and tried out the lifts. Now I have to tell you that Lina was probably the best person for me to learn the ballet with. She knew what she was doing and danced with no fear. After the Scherzo that night Lina grabbed me at the side of the stage and said, 'OK, here we go, B.J.'
"She could feel my hands shaking as we stood ready to run on and she squeezed them telling me it would be OK. This simple gesture made all the difference for me at that instant, and to this day I cannot hear '...hold my hand and we’re halfway there' without thinking of Lina and that special moment when we stepped on to the stage together. As is often the case, the lyric resonates with personal meaning not necessarily intended by the lyricist.
"Then before I knew it, we had danced the Ballet, but I had performed it with Lina Soriano. Everything went without a hitch, but I suspect that most of that was to do with Lina. This is what the Ballet means to me. People who come from different worlds who, given the chance, will make it together. A Shark Girl and a Jet Boy in perfect harmony the way life should be in Tony and Maria's dream. Would that I were there again in the theatre with Lina ready to dance the 'Somewhere' Ballet."
[ROBERT ARDITTI appeared as Baby John in the original London company, the first UK Tour, and the 1962 Scandinavia Tour, and as Action in Hungary in 1965. His long and successful career as director-choreographer includes as many as ten productions of West Side Story throughout the UK and Far East.]
Additional information about the placement and function of the Somewhere Ballet within the story line can be found in this Synopsis and also in this comparative essay, under Act Two, Scene One.
