Apache Dance
The title pages for this script say several interesting things. First, the title and subtitle:
Danny and the Deep Blue Sea: an Apache Dance
Then a dedication by the author:
This play is dedicated to everyone in the Bronx who punched me or kissed me, and to everyone whom I punched or kissed.
A note on the characters:
About both characters: They are violent and battered, inarticulate and yearning to speak, dangerous and vulnerable.
And a definition:
An Apache Dance is a violent dance for two people, originated by the Parisian apaches. Parisian apaches are gangsters or ruffians.
I started doing my research, and found several descriptions of the dance, based on a waltz and developed by Parisian street gangs to reinact a famous bar fight. At the same time, I was listening to Leonard Cohen sing "Take this Waltz", "A Thousand Kisses Deep" and "I'm Your Man" - beautiful love songs filled with a sense of powerful romance emerging from pain.
That's when I really fell in love with the script.
I don't know how much Leonard Cohen will make it into the final production, but the Apache Dance is sure to be represented in some way. For me this script is driven by the imense love and forgiveness that Danny and Roberta find for each other through all their brokenness. What better than a good waltz to bring that out...
If anyone has more information on the Parisian apaches or their dance, please do post and tell us about it.