Few stories have captured as many creative minds as that of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. Amongst those who were inspired have been the composer Sergei Prokofiev, filmmakers Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann, Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim who created West Side Story based on the play and choreographers Kenneth Macmillan, Peter Martins and Rudolf Nureyev. Add to that list choreographer Medhi Walerski who created a new ballet for Ballet BC called Romeo + Juliet. (I guess he liked the way Luhrmann did it for the film.) There will be two performances this Saturday and Sunday at The Soraya in Northridge.
Like many other ballets telling this story, Romeo + Juliet also uses Prokofiev’s amazing music. Walerski’s ballet had its world premiere in Vancouver in 2018. The production was critically-acclaimed and sold out. It was also Walerski’s first story ballet.
You do know the story of Romeo + Juliet, right? He of the Montague Family and she of the Capulets? The two families are bitter rivals and enemies. How dare these two meet and immediately fall in love. The animosity between the Montagues and the Capulets leads to one of drama’s most heartbreaking tragedies.
Walerski says of his approach to this classic story, “I used my technique, my heritage, my experience. In my choreographic language, it is classically based, and then there is my modern dance background with Netherlands. This is also part of me, and it’s about welcoming all these different techniques that I had the chance to work on and bring them forward.”
Though I have not seen this ballet, between the press notes, reviews and the video above, it does appear to be a very contemporary approach (and a somewhat minimalist one as well) to this tragic story.
Dancing the parts of the title characters will be Justin Rapaport and Emily Chessa on February 29th; Des Van Ter Meij and Kirsten Wicklund on March 1st.
For tickets for Saturday night go here.
For tickets for Sunday afternoon go here.
Photo: Brandon Alley and Emily Cheesa in Romeo + Juliet (Photo by Michael Slobodian/Courtesy of The Soraya)