As an actor who had the good fortune to be on stage with the Royal Ballet for Romeo and Juliet, and Giselle, in Tokyo, and the R&J performance in Nagoya, it was most interesting to see the development of the peformances over the 3 week period. First of all, I am not going to make any criticisms, so my observations should not be interpreted as such, in case my choice of words could be construed that way.
The staff and dancers were all top-notch, and though I heard it said that the dancers were somewhat aloof, talking to them (regardless of status or role) in all cases yielded ready smiles, conversations, and often lively and I hope mutually enjoyable interactions.
Gary Avis as Thibault did indeed steal the show in the 2nd Act whenever he had the role, in fact the male and female character actors had a far greater impact on the entire peformance of Romeo and Juliet than I had expected, and not only that, from what I could see, they have a major role in supporting the morale of the company, and take on public relations tasks with gusto. Seeing Gary and Elizabeth signing autographs endlessly after the show, taking care to not miss anyone, and photos I don't know how many with fans and ballet afficionadoes really brought home to me how much and how wide-spread their energy, love and dedication to the art is. Very impressive and humbling.
Not much about the lead roles that has not been said already (since I am just an amateur), my personal favourite dancer that I had waited for years to see, is without a doubt Marianela Nunez. What a nice person, on and off the stage! Vadim and Marianela's autographs on the front page of the program are treasured mementos now :-)
All the Juliet's were great in different ways (including Ms. Hayward, wow); for Romeo I have my own ideas about what I like, but I can say all Mercutio's were a delight to watch (especially Campbell). The response of the dancers to one another in those acting roles does make a huge difference.
It was insightful to read abouth the contract issues in Japan, it does make is a bit easier to understand and interpret some odd things, such as not publicly announcing the casts of the school performances, and the feeling sometimes that the company is acting as a supporting cast for showcased "names".
Among the company male dancers I really liked Acri, Campbell and Sambe, and Juliet's 6 maidens were a beauty to watch again and again. I concur about Ms Naghdi and others, looking forward to seeing promotions in the near future.
Interestingly, the acting became more and more pronounced, even over the top, with time, the last performance in Nagoya I thought something on the stage is going to break or someone is going to get injured by flying swords or bodies! The gestures and facial expressions became almost compically over the top, I expect this is on the orders of the company, or else it was a celebration of the finale. All in all, a fine showing---makeup is a good cover for male dancers too after several weeks of touring in Japan :-)
