'West Side Story' - Chino ('America' ft. 'Mambo Dance')

In comparison to Rent, West Side Story includes more dance sections, such as the two I feature in as Chino, 'America' and the 'Mambo Dance'.

America

In this dance the male and female groups of Puerto Ricans rival out in a dance showcase as they express their love/hate for America. I played Chino, although my character doesn't have too much relevance to this scene besides participating in the 

Due to performing in this dance in my first year of college (2 years ago) I was familiar with the song and lyrics which gave me a boost to the people who had been learning the song since first receiving the script, it's a fast paced, fun song to sing and dance, I was especially looking forward to performing in it.

Jayde, a talent dancer was chief choreographer for the dance, when I joined the process 80% of the dance had been planned so I had little I could contribute too. The moves weren't too difficult to pick up, rehearsal after rehearsal, move after move I was picking it up. One immediate issue was dancing alongside the quick music, one move to another in a split second, it was challenging but it looked professional and had a strong visual impact on audiences, feedback had been addressed before I joined the group, but from what I heard there was little negative feedback since day 1.

The dialogue alongside the dance was tricky to sing well on half a breathe but I soon managed to get a hang on things, knowing most of the lyrics by heart anyway I could relate them to specific movements creating a mind based sequence between the two which really helped.

My initial impression was to put on as a group an entertaining performance for audiences, before changing and focusing on more of the characters goals of winning this debate, I think this would definitely produce a more thrilling and tension filled performance. 

Mambo Dance

This dance was probably one of the most challenging pieces of dance to learn and I'm not sure why, the music was slower than America, I had a partner and others around the room I could look too for support, even still I couldn't grasp it. This dance was the ball where Tony and Maria first met and sparked the rest of the narrative, this dance was important to set the scene and atmosphere for the audiences, engaging them in the dance whilst ensuring they understand whats happening in the story line.

In conclusion this dance was stressful for me to learn, eventually leaving me to skip past sections to make sure I stay in the loop of the routine.