If you haven't seen "West Side Story"(1961) starring Natalie Wood, George Chakiris, Richard Beymer, and Rita Moreno, I highly recommend you take a look. The two and a half hours you spend viewing the film will be worth your time. Yes, 1961 was a very long time ago, but the drama, conflict, and human emotions in the film are timeless. The movie was a tour de force for the cast and directors Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise. 

"West Side Story" was based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet--about star-crossed lovers from rival gangs in New York City. Natalie Wood played Maria, and Richard Beymer was cast as Tony. The young people met at a dance where the Jets, with their White members, and the Sharks, with members of Puerto Rican descent, congregated. The sparks between Maria and Tony were off the charts. 

Maria's best friend was Anita, the sister of the Sharks' leader Bernardo. Anita was portrayed by Rita Moreno, whose dancing in the film was pure magic. 

But the Broadway version of "West Side Story" was dominated by the dancing and acting skills of Chita Rivera. Born Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero on January 23, 1933, Rivera played Anita on stage in 1957. However, she was not cast in the film. There were disparate reasons why Rivera did not play Anita in the movie version--allegedly from the fact that Rita Moreno was contracted by the studio at the time, to the camera preferred Moreno, to Rivera was too old by Hollywood standards to portray Anita in the film. 

As a child, Rivera studied ballet at the Jones Haywood School of Dance in Washington, DC. She was so prolific that by age 15, she was handpicked to audition in NYC after a rep from George Balanchine's School of American Ballet watched her dance at the school. 

Chita Rivera's father was Puerto Rican, and her mother was of European descent, Scottish and Italian. Rivera has always identified with her Hispanic roots. Her many roles have been diverse, and not every character she portrayed has been Puerto Rican.

Her Broadway work garnered Rivera three Tony Awards,  including a Lifetime Achievement award. Rivera is the first Latin woman and the first Latino American to receive a Kennedy Center Honor. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 from former President Barack Obama. 

I have never met Chita Rivera but feel a connection to her because I would hear stories about her from an ex-brother-in-law, a colleague at a radio station I worked at years ago. By all accounts, she sounds like a fascinating and beautiful woman. Rivera's autobiography, "Chita: A Memoir," co-written with Patrick Pacheco, was just released and is a must-read for me. I am inspired by people who follow their dreams--particularly an artist like Chita Rivera, who has maintained a six-decade career on Broadway and has never stopped working.