“I loved dancing!”
“I’d never wanted to be anything but a dancer, really. Traveling, meeting wonderful people. It was a very, very exciting life.”
When I first met Carmen Gutierrez Martel out walking her chihuahua Poncho on Palos Verdes Drive, I had no idea that this petite, modest, and soft-spoken 93-year-old had once been a much sought-after dancer on Broadway. Only when she casually mentioned that she was going to the sixtieth reunion of the original cast of West Side Story did I discover the rich narrative of her life. She agreed to sit down with me on a sunny summer afternoon soon afterwards to tell me of her journey from Mexican schoolgirl to international performer of stage and screen. . .
Continue reading “Dancing for Joy: The Life of Carmen Gutierrez Martel”