West Side Story, 1961-2021

"If West Side Story has resisted the wrinkles of time for more than sixty years, this is due as much to the modernity of it's score, it's "lyrics" and choreography as to the seriousness of it's ever-present theme: the often aggressive and the twists and turns of assimilation. Illustration with the recording made by the troupe of the creation on Broadway, the later soundtrack of a few years of the film and by the personal readings of jazz musicians." (Teca Calazans & Philippe Lesage) There are two reasons why West Side Story has shown hardly any sign of aging for the past sixty years: first, it's score, it's lyrics and it's choreography are still modern; and second, the seriousness of it's theme is today as topical as ever: the often-aggressive cultural confrontations between different communities, coupled with the vagaries of integration.