Polunin/Kobborg new Romeo & Juliet in Verona

[FionaM]

IG post from Henry Dowden of ENB shows the arena and stage layout. With the gantry of lights and minimalist set - the big grey blocks with the dance floor still being laid

 

[FionaM]

My reflections on the process and performance.....

 

I have been following the creative process since the show was announced in April mostly via Johan Kobborg’s daily posts, and then later from other cast members.  It’s been a fascinating insight and I did wonder whether we had seen too much in advance.  The cast has been assembled from all over the world and rehearsals started piecemeal in June only (after the creation/performances of Rasputin that Sergei and Johan performed in together) and so Johan worked with soloists individually and then in pairs.  The ensemble came later, mostly in July.  Rehearsals were constantly interrupted with performances elsewhere - Alina Cojocaru in Moscow and Vail, Sergei Polunin and Johan on Summer tour of Italy with Fraudulent Smile and Sacre, Valentino Zucchetti joined very late after RB Tokyo and US tours, ENB dancers after their tours in Moscow and Mexico, etc etc.

 

I arrived in the absolutely enormous arena with trepidation.  I had a very good seat - 5 rows back from the orchestra pit and 10 seats away from the centre.  And was delighted that it was not too low and I would not miss the dancers feet.  Always a risk!   The set that had looked enormous on the rehearsal stage (National Theatre of Belgrade) was now dwarfed.  Two huge pieces of ‘concrete’ stairs and arches set in the middle towards the back of the stage area which was framed by a large gantry with lighting equipment - such as a proscenium arch would normally conceal.  The arena itself is a huge oval and approximately one third is carved off for the stage at one end.  The stalls are set on a raked floor facing the stage and there are more seats and stone terraces alongside and behind the stalls.  So it is an enormous face-on open air theatre.  It is not ‘in the round’. 

 

I was initially disappointed that there was no live orchestra, but perhaps that was a step too far given the limited preparation time, and maybe also a cost constraint.  As it transpired, Prokofiev’s music was beautifully recorded and the acoustics in the arena are quite something to hear.  Those Romans knew what they were doing.  The music used had been enhanced with additional percussion, bells in particular.  So that may have been another factor against a live orchestra.  Otherwise the music was Prokofiev’s own and in pretty much the usual order and the themes for individual characters were as usual too.

 

There was a longish delay in starting, no idea why as I could see the dancers bobbing about backstage through their entrance arches.  It may well have been a problem with getting the audience through security checks (as is the way at all large venues these days) and then into the arena and seated, or it may have been a technical hitch.

 

Cheering from the audience as the arena and stage lights went down.  The initial scene was of the two lovers lying star-crossed across each other, as is foretold in the play.  So poignant with Prokofiev's music ringing out all around.  

 

Then the first scene was Romeo the young carefree lad-about-town dancing alone.  Sergei doing what Sergei does best ... dancing for the love of life, wonderful height of his jumps, deliciously wide double cabrioles, etc and filling the vast expanse of the stage.  I do not underestimate how difficult this is to do.  He was followed by Giulietta the child running and jumping back and forth on her steps and flitting about in a beautiful solo and gorgeous sea-green dress.  Alina is a fabulous dancer and Johan gave her plenty of beautiful steps to portray her young girl.  And so in a flash, the characters are introduced and known.   

 

And so it continued with wonderful choreography from Johan throughout enabling each dancer to portray their character without encumbrance.  There were no pauses to bow for applause.  

 

Valentino Zucchetti as Mercuzio was on fire - never seen him dance with so much verve and bounce.  Wonderful choreography and characterisation that suited his strengths.  He was all over the stage, bobbing about amongst the ensemble and getting up Tebaldo’s (Tybalt’s) nose at every opportunity.  He seemed to have more actual dancing than the Macmillan version.  Lots of beautiful split jêtes en manège.  And his character really came across.  His performance felt freer, less constrained than at Royal’s R&J this season.

 

Giorgio Garrett from ENB was  Benvolio and the 3 lads  (Benvolio, Romeo and Mercuzio) had some lovely dancing and playfulness together mingling with the ensemble.  And of course great tragedy to deal with later.

 

The Capulets were a haughty crew led by Ross Freddie Ray McCaw rampaging everywhere as Lord Capulet.  He was super angry with everybody and even hit Giulietta across the face when she defied him.  His height and overbearingness was truly aweful.  Lady Capulet was in his shadow and aloof, one wondered whether she had been abused in this marriage.  Played marvellously by Jann Esterhuizen who them remonstrated her husband in the tomb scene for what his behaviour had caused.   These two did not have much actual dancing except for leading the Dance of the Knights.  Such stirring music.  Super choreography with a section for the men, then for the ladies then everybody together.  Wonderful.  

 

Paris was played by Kilian Smith and in this version he had little to do.  He was mostly a pawn of the Capulets to marry/not marry their daughter as Lord Capulet blew hot and cold. (Side note of interest:  Kilian Smith played Peter in the video of ‘Peter and the Wolf’ with Sergei as the wolf.)

 

And then there was Nikolas Gaifullin as Tebaldo.  What an extraordinary stage presence for such a young man (23) and super technique - fabulous height of jumps and multiple spins.  I believe he is a principal at Atlanta Ballet and I fully expect he’ll get snapped up elsewhere soon, maybe even in Europe?  With some time adding finesse to his technique, he’ll be gold dust with his height and all these skills.  The artist director of Atlanta Ballet, Gennadi Nedvigin, was sat with Johan Kobborg alongside Tamara Rojo, presumably at Johan’s invitation for lending their dancers.  

 

The whole production is most definitely Johan’s vision with collaboration from others.  His choice of set, lighting and costumes, his choice of dancers, his storyline and his choreography.  It was entirely classical ballet, although perhaps in a ‘free’ way.  No dancer or dancers finished to make way for another, everything just flowed on.  And it’s clear that he chose all the protagonists for their ability to convey character.  There were no weak performances, even from the ensemble.  Each one got fully involved in the story as an individual.  Maybe Johan set the movement and reactions of each person.  So authentic.

 

A few characters from other versions were cut completely, most notably Juliet’s nurse and friends, harlots, Prince Escalus, Lord and Lady Montague.  No Rosaline either, although she is an invisible character in the play.  Johan did include one short street dance to the Mandolin dance music but possibly only to give the principals a break else they were on stage continuously.

 

I am amazed still how 26 dancers filled that enormous stage.  Certainly Romeo, Mercuzio and Tebaldo were magnificent and terrifying in the sword fighting which went back and forth and using all of the stage.   And kudos to Johan for making each death a quick one, leaving more time and music for dancing and story development.

 

Alina and Sergei were unbelievable together.  The range of emotions conveyed by both aided by Johans’s choreography for their 3 wonderful pdd - balcony, Tybalt's Death and then the tomb.  From joyous, tender, flirtatious, shy, through passion and love and marriage and onto Juliet conflicted over Romeo her husband/lover and Romeo the killer of Tybalt.  Then there was Romeo’s anguish and disbelief.  All of this and more.  And then the tragic death scene.  Alina was very dead when Sergei found her and danced with her and then (as always) the tragic awakening of Juliet with Romeo dead nearby.  And the pathos of the final moments as she drags herself on top of Romeo and wraps his arms around her whilst pointing to the stars that they admired in the balcony pdd before it all went wrong.  So emotional.  Brilliant realisation by Johan.  

 

It was a superb production - such wonderful dancing and emotions , which I am still living and processing.  I definitely need to see it again, as there was a lot going on.  I would highly recommend.  And the long one act of 1hr20mins did serve to heighten the drama and emotion as there was no break for an interval.  I didn’t feel short-changed.  I only wish there could have been 2 performances.

 

The minimalist sets moved and separated, creating different shapes and scenes in conjunction with the lighting, by the talented Nikolas Binkin of the Maryinsky.  The costumes for the main protagonists were sumptuous but the designer remains ‘an anonymous creative collaboration’.  Alina had 4 costumes - sea green with jewels and beads on the bodice for initial scenes, white with floral design on bodice for ball and balcony pdd and marriage, bright red to mourn Tybalt’s death and plain white for the tomb.  All absolutely gorgeous.  The floral decorations by Tage Anderson were beautiful too.

 

 

 

[capybara]

Thank you so much for being our "Verona Correspondent", Fiona.

It's great to read such a full report with a lot of background information. I'm really hoping that the production comes to the UK with the same cast.

[FionaM]

A few things to correct....

 

Alina had FIVE beautiful costumes - a different white nightdress for the balcony pdd.  Had to watch more videos (no hardship!) to check. 

 

Alina and Sergei had 4 pdd.  There is also brief one where the meet at the ball and then flirt shyly in the garden, hiding in and amongst the steps and arches of the set, and avoiding passing family and ball attendees.   It was so cleverly choreographed. 

[LinMM]

Many thanks Fiona ....worth waiting for....and what a fabulous venue must have had a very special atmosphere.

Your review has now made it a dead cert that if this is ever danced in UK I will be going ...even if it's not in London! 

Looks like a really special memory for you that you will cherish for a very long time.

Also I don't mind the idea of a ballet being danced straight through like this though probably an hour and a half would be max for this.

We all know the reasons but some of the ROH intervals are just getting a bit too long now ...okay perhaps in three separate bállets but not so good in a big dramatic ballet like R and J 

Do you think Kobburg would stick to this in a UK theatre.

The bars could still make their money by staying open longer afterwards .....as it would finish so much earlier! 

 

 

[Sabine0308]

Thank you so much,  Fiona. As I have said before, the balcony scene has touched me deeply. It is the only clip I've seen so far and will check out more. I hope to see this live some day. It sounds wonderful.

[FionaM]

9 minutes ago, LinMM said:

Many thanks Fiona ....worth waiting for....and what a fabulous venue must have had a very special atmosphere.

Your review has now made it a dead cert that if this is ever danced in UK I will be going ...even if it's not in London! 

Looks like a really special memory for you that you will cherish for a very long time.

Also I don't mind the idea of a ballet being danced straight through like this though probably an hour and a half would be max for this.

We all know the reasons but some of the ROH intervals are just getting a bit too long now ...okay perhaps in three separate bállets but not so good in a big dramatic ballet like R and J 

Do you think Kobburg would stick to this in a UK theatre.

The bars could still make their money by staying open longer afterwards .....as it would finish so much earlier! 

 

 

 

I love this idea to have the bars and restaurants open afterwards.  In Verona a group of us when for pizza or desserts afterwards.  It’s a good way to share first impressions.

[FionaM]

Another thing I’ve noticed is that the stage appeared to get slippery.  I think it’s dust from the arena being brought onto the floor as the dancers and stage hands go off and on stage.  In some of the pdd Alina and Sergei are being careful about their placements.  He definitely slid a few times and she appeared to fall off pointe early on (possibly a bump or join in the flooring)

[FionaM]

Here’s a video of their first shy and interrupted pdd during the ball

 

 

[Richard LH]

16 hours ago, FionaE said:

I too would prefer that he used makeup to cover tattoos when they are not appropriate to the role.

 

Certainly -  indeed I am not sure what ballet  roles would be appropriate  to display Mr Putin on one's chest!

 (Unless it would be his Ras-Putin)🙄!

 

But thanks for the detailed report Fiona - glad you enjoyed the overall experience!   

 

 

[Beryl H]

16 hours ago, FionaE said:

 

It was 1 hour 20 minutes of continuous action.

 

thinking about it RB R&J performances are usually 3 hours.  Removing the intervals leave 2 hrs 15mins.  If you then cut most of the townspeople/Harlots dances and Juliet’s friends dancing in the ball and her bedroom, along with scenes with Prince Escalus and the friar, you can easily see how the essence of the play/ballet remains intact in 1hr 20 mins

 

One of the reasons I want to see the Matthew Bourne version in the cinema is that it runs for 1hr 30m without intervals, as you say, the drama intensifies.

[JNC]

Thanks a lot @FionaE for sharing your thoughts and various clips etc for the performance. 

 

Sergei can still bring his charm to a role, that's for sure. (But please let's get the cover up make up for that tattoo!). I have to say the costumes look exquisite! And Alina well...what more can you say. She's a perfect Juliet for me and her technique and characterisation are sublime. 

 

I definitely would see this if it came to London....fingers crossed for 2020! 

[penelopesimpson]

Fiona:  Just want to thank you for providing such a beautiful and full account of what must have been a memorable evening.  I am deeply envious.  

[FionaM]

3 hours ago, penelopesimpson said:

Fiona:  Just want to thank you for providing such a beautiful and full account of what must have been a memorable evening.  I am deeply envious.  

 

I am still caught up in it emotionally.  Wonderful performance, and of course I am personally so pleased for all the cast, but particularly for Johan, Alina and Sergei, that it was such a success.  

 

Edited August 31, 2019 by FionaE
Typos as usual!

[FionaM]

Sergei was interviewed on Russian TV yesterday and revealed two of the sponsors tried to call it off on a couple of occasions and he managed to persuade them to trust him that it would sell out.  Which it did.  

 

Many of the summer operas play to lesser audiences!

 

I believe Roberto Bolle’s two gala-style evenings in the Arena sold old too - so there’s obviously plenty of demand to see dance in Verona.  Both style too - gala and story ballets.

Edited August 31, 2019 by FionaE
Typos as usual!

[Scheherezade]

21 hours ago, capybara said:

Thank you so much for being our "Verona Correspondent", Fiona.

It's great to read such a full report with a lot of background information. I'm really hoping that the production comes to the UK with the same cast.

 

19 hours ago, LinMM said:

Many thanks Fiona ....worth waiting for....and what a fabulous venue must have had a very special atmosphere.

Your review has now made it a dead cert that if this is ever danced in UK I will be going ...even if it's not in London! 

Looks like a really special memory for you that you will cherish for a very long time  

 

9 hours ago, penelopesimpson said:

Fiona:  Just want to thank you for providing such a beautiful and full account of what must have been a memorable evening.  I am deeply envious.  

 

I echo the thanks of all of the above, Fiona. 

I don’t know how you found the time to write such a full and engrossing review, particularly as you are still on holiday, but you have really brought the performance alive with your descriptions of the colours and atmosphere in the arena as well as the choreography and the dancing. 

Edited August 31, 2019 by Scheherezade

[FionaM]

On 28/08/2019 at 18:35, JNC said:

 

Maybe in a smaller venue (which solves the phones problem!), with a live orchestra (rather than a booming sound system) and a bit more training/familiarity/rehearsal time for the corps to ensure a bit more tightness all seem fixable to me. Also seems like it could do with an interval or perhaps a structural rethink? 

 

 

I’ve been advised that team PoluninInk decided some time ago that live music was not viable due to the cost.  Apparently Sergei had to go out and do modelling etc to cover the cost of orchestras hired for previous projects.  So don’t expect live music.  That’s one of the prohibitive costs that keeps major ballet productions only affordable with the biggest companies.   And of course the cost of new productions - individually designed and fitted costumes for many dancers is just one huge cost aspect.

 

I like the new paradigm of no interval for dramatic ballets.  It heightens the tension and drama.  I agree 1h30 is probably about the maximum.  Two other benefits of no interval - you can catch trains home earlier.  Or stay and enjoy a meal/drinks and to discuss the performance straight after.  

Edited August 31, 2019 by FionaE
Better words

[FionaM]

Here’s a review

 

https://www.danzaedanzaweb.com/articolo/1920/-romeo-giulietta-all-arena-tra-passato-e-presente

[FionaM]

On 28/08/2019 at 17:17, redshoesgirl2 said:

yes, i totally agree. i was watching a video of a bit of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and was reminded of how good he was. the finesse.

i wonder if koborg choreographed sergei's romeo to reflect his style of dancing now. flailing arms, horrid landings. polunin may think it is a freer way of doing ballet but i think many times it is just sloppy and reflects his spoken attitude about not taking class on a regular basis.

 

Looking at videos I notice Valentino Zucchetti was also a bit untidy in his dancing, and he is usually pretty neat.   The cast were definitely short on rehearsal and finesse-ing time.  And then on top, suffering from the slippery and uneven flooring.  

 

If I was the management team I’d be berating the Arena for not having the foresight to deal with this problem - I bet it’s not a problem at Roberto Bolle’s shows.  

[annamicro]

Something that always puzzles me is why ballet companies feel the need to attract new audience doing something that is not ballet. It would be interesting to know how many people attracted by that "Boy George thing" (undeniably an entertaining evening, with also come dancing here and there) came back to the ROH to watch Swan Lake or Giselle.

New approaches to the classics can lead to "fusion" masterpieces as Akram Khan Giselle, but more often are just failed attempts.

So to hear "we want to renew ballet" can be blood freezing.

I have good news for those who, like me, love ballet: Johan Kobborg’s idea of ballet renewal and revolution is not to forget about ballet, but change the story telling. Kobborg got superpowers and had in his hands that magical device I'd love have in mine a little bit too often, when sitting in theatre: a remote with a fast forward button.

And, to my taste, he used it brilliantly most of the time. So, if you have the opportunity, go to see this Kobborg’s Romeo and Juliet.

 

Oddly, for a show aimed to reduce its usual length of roughly an hour (from 2h15 min to more or less 1h 20min), the opening scene is an addition: The Prologue. As in the play, there is no space for hope and illusions: the first thing the audience sees is Juliet sharing "with Romeo one heavy funeral bed". Two self introducing solos follow: an energetic one for Romeo, and a childish playful one for the young Juliet. The “prologue” and the solos focus immediately the attention on the two main characters: the tragedy is their story, the rest, with very few exceptions, is effectively dried up to the bare essence needed to have the story flow.

It runs so fast and it’s so different that after a week my memory fails to remember the complete sequence of events: I’d have loved a second view, because the first one leaves just the strongest impressions, what one liked the most and the opposite.

I didn’t particularly like the three friends dancing, in many moments lacking ensemble, and Mercutio part resulted pretty much overacted as a “Russian Swan Lake Jester thing” with a quite messed up solo (I am afraid it was more due to the performance than the actual choreography). The great thing about Mercutio, in this versio, is that he has a sudden death: whoever is dancing it, I always have the instinct to finish his never ending agony throwing something heavy to his head, so I will be forever grateful to Johan to have cut it entirely, something I didn’t even dare to hope for! As shown in the first scene the story is about Juliet and Romeo and Mercutio’s death is just a tragedy trigger kept to his essence: great cut, to my taste.

 

The one who stole the show on the male side was Tybalt: the young Nikolas Gaifullin fulfilled all my high expectations from a technical point of view and surpassed the artistic ones, with an imperative and assured stage presence, despite the young age (23). His huge jumps in full body and landing control and in extreme easiness were a highlight of the evening.

Another surprisingly (at least for me) impressive artist was Ross Freddie Ray: authoritative and domineering without effort, following Kobborg’s mot that “less is more”. A high stature is not enough to credibly tower over Cojocaru, as tiny as she is: he demonstrated the qualities to face this venture successfully. 

Paris here is a mere puppet in the hands of Lord Capulet and also Lady Capulet has less space than in other productions (the only very relevant thing she does is to turn his back to the husband at the funeral: she learnt a lesson from her daughter).

This part of the ballet has many cuts but quite follows the tradition: Romeo and friends go to the ball, he meets Juliet, they flirt in the hidden corners of Capulet palace (their pdd seems shorter than usual) and they are separated. Then the beautiful balcony pdd: there is a youtube video of great quality (including also the father trying to call Juliet back inside: interesting point…he clearly understands it’s better to have her married as soon as possible), so there is no need to describe it in detail, I’ll just add that it was deservedly received enthusiastically by the audience (they couldn’t even wait for it to end to clap!).

It’s from this point that Kobborg makes the most interesting adaptations.

In a work without Escalus and Lord Montague, Lord Capulet, to affirm his prominent position and his power and what they imply, makes her daughter engagement a public affair. He, Paris and Juliet climb the stair to announce the “contract” to the citizens. The girl seems to go up to the gallows and Romeo is watching among the small crowd (and this works in great favor of shortness, simplifying the process to “let him know”).

When I first saw the beautiful set, it was placed to form a series of full arches with a big stair on the side. The full arches, Roman or more recent, are very common in Verona architecture and are a recurrent element in the palaces that define the beautiful piazza dei Signori; one of those palaces, Palazzo della Ragione, has a big stair in the court: there, for me, the engagement was announced. So, maybe for just for a personal fantasy, this public engagement was very intriguing for me.

Probably the most interesting change on the ballet flow and on the narration perspective is after the (merciful) death of Mercutio and Tybalt: Juliet is watching the events and it’s the girl that run down to the drama, not Lady Capulet. She wears a blood red dress, to an enhanced effect.

 

It has been said many times that this production was conceived just in February and then the works started, from nothing. At the same time is well known that Kobborg has already worked on at least two Romeo and Juliet projects (one for a Russian company, one for Bucharest Opera) that were never realized. Sure many ideas were poured into this new one, because great achievements need not only talent, but also time and hard work. So, when I saw that clip of Romeo and Juliet having a pdd on “Lady Capulet music”, my mind sprung back, somehow remembering a chat of 5 years ago: I scrolled back Messenger to the 13^th of June 2014, to find something that probably has worked in the background of my head since then: “I don’t even have her on stage, I think there are more important issues to deal with at the end of act 2, than those of Lady Capulet”.

Now I know which those issues are, and this is for me one of the best moments of the show, if not the real best. Juliet runs down and she is not anymore the playful girl, but a young woman full of love, despair, rage, that sees her life, her future, her hopes destroyed by that moron that Romeo is. Kobborg is lucky to have Alina Cojocaru to dance it and to have had her working on it (a long-lasting luck, since that day at the beginning of February 2001, when they were told they were going to dance together, for the first time, as Romeo and Juliet on the 17^th of the same month). When it comes to deliver genuinely and from inside, not with odd faces but with the whole body, strong and complex emotions, very few can hope to come close to Cojocaru. Alina is an artist that is not seeking for beauty at all costs but for truth, she has not fear to not “look good” when it is necessary to convey an emotion. She and Kobborg added to her dancing on Lady Capulet music also some sprained movements probably coming from her experience with Neumeier; I suspect Johan didn’t gave Alina carte blanche but allowed and guided her to express herself freely, bringing in all the experiences she collected all over the world in many years of dancing. Due to this change of view, already chosen by Kobborg years ago, the focus is on the young couple facing the disaster impending on their life: they dance on a very dramatic music, they run to the wall that seems to block their future, and Juliet in some moments even seems to tell off Romeo for what he did to their hopes. Yes, there are more relevant issues than Lady Capulet despair and what a change from the usual “please don’t go please don’t go” bedroom pdd with a still childish Juliet (as wonderful as it can be: I usually love it! This is a not a hoped but for sure a successful cut). Here is the modernity of the reading, IMO, and here is the real maturation of Juliet, always the most interesting character, because, for once, for a ballet female character, she is the strong one, the one that risks more, that changes more and the one that (as Alina taught me with a performance of hers a few years ago) ultimately wins, no matter what Shakespeare thinks.

For those who remember Cojocaru’s gut-wrenching silent scream in MacMillan’s version, please note that it was moved here, slightly different and expressing more complex feelings, and it is even repeated, on her balcony, when she must face the plan to try to escape from her approaching prison for the life.

She will not repeat it in the tomb. There, the whole scene is moving, desperate and sweet and can be for sure better. I’d love to see it again without the bed disfunction that probably put the lovers’ hearts in their throats: when Romeo placed back Juliet’s body on the bed, that resulted to be not perfectly blocked and moved to a certain extent, so they probably moved around and on it in fear to make a disaster falling down. So Juliet very last moments with Romeo’s body were not as fluent as they probably are supposed to be, even if Alina managed it quite well; a real pity, because the whole thing can be wonderful, with Juliet raising her hand to the sky and smiling, exactly as Alina did for the first time some years ago, because in the tragedy she is the winner: she escaped from a prison for the life to an eternal freedom with her Romeo. A Cojocaru trademark that I was happy to see in this Juliet that she created with her real life Romeo.

 

The moving bed was not the only technical problem of the performance: the Arena calendar is full and an opera was on the night before, so they had only a day (I mean a daylight day, not 24 hours) to mount the floor, the scenery and the lighting. They had a short stage call in the late afternoon (a very sunny and humid day: a joy for a dancer…) probably just to gain confidence with the wide empty prairie that Arena stage is, but of course they couldn’t check the lighting in the sun. The lighting was bad, still not too much disturbing for the audience, I hope it was the same for the dancers: it’s not nice to be blinded on stage by an unexpected misplaced light (I was having a blue light pointed to my eyes during the balcony pdd and needed to move the head to watch Juliet when she was upstairs).

The sound was quite awful, much worse at my place than in the pdd video: probably a complete sound check couldn’t be done. The volume was too high and the sound distorted, it was even difficult to recognize the effects (I strongly suspect that the “thunderstorm” were just the burning torches, but who knows: I’ll find it out at the next view). Disturbing but predictable: the Arena is an amphitheater, after all, a stadium, not built for artistic performances; the actual Roman theatre (still in full use but much much smaller) is on the other side of the river Adige.

These remarks just to underline what a crazy adventure this show was and how many efforts were made by everybody to make it such a successful one despite the difficulties. All these technical issues can be easily resolved having more time and using a theatre: the imponent and absolutely magnificent scenery was a little lost at the center of the wide stage, that was looking more empty when the full cast was on stage (to have just one or two dancers helps to focus the attention to smaller space). The Arena was a fantastic opportunity that needed to be grabbed, but I think that this production belongs to a traditional theatre.

 

Alina Cojocaru was fully up to my expectations, very high when it comes to her performances. I had some enthusiastic feedbacks from my office in the following days: many colleagues went to see the show and it seems that the buzz and discussions in Verona didn’t end when the (non existing) curtains went down. I am really grateful to Polunin to have brought Alina to my company head quarter: she gave such a wonderful performance that the next time I will be asked to do something when I want a day off for ballet, I’ll just raise a hand “sorry, Alina is dancing: ubi major..."

And really this show is a Polunin miracle: to be offered the Arena, di Verona, to be willing to take a risk not bringing a stale gala of pdds, to aim to be new, to offer something different and big and ambitious are great values. This project looks extremely expensive and even a full Arena di Verona probably didn’t guarantee the return of the investment, so this is a project born to have a (fortunately deserved) future. It was a great effort of many people, Kobborg first of all of course, and the whole cast, especially the sumptuous Cojocaru, for her dedication to the project and for the way she lighted up the huge stage of the Arena much more than the stage lighting actually did, but also the organizer, for the massive advertising, the continuous presence everywhere to let people know and then remind them of this event. It doesn’t matter several tickets were sold half priced: to have a sold out Arena is not easy even if given for free.

So Polunin deserves a great respect. The sad side is that he is at the moment much more relevant, interesting and successful as a promoter and a fund-riser than as a dancer. Watched live he looked unfinished, as blurred, his dancing missing the clarity, purity and fully controlled explosivity that made him such an exciting and outstanding dancer. The videos unfortunately confirm the impression and his technique looks partially faded away. It’s easy to trust @Angela when she says that he was outdanced by Gouneo, I suspect that many in Munich and elsewhere can out dance him (he was probably lucky to be fired by Paris…one can even suspect that maybe his posts were not the real reason). But one other thing has to be said: Gouneo is an out standing virtuoso, but has always given me the impression of such a total and absolute vacuity, that could have made him the joy of Robert Boyle. Polunin is much more: he is an artist, maybe not the best actor, but definitely a good one, and with a natural charismatic stage presence. He didn’t give a “bad” performance, it was a decent and full of dignity one and he was a sympathetic partner for his Juliet (and to tell the complete truth I’d still sign to have him partnering Cojocaru every night, compared to some dancer she shares the stage with at ENB and in Hamburg) , but he is no more up there in the stars and there was nothing inhis perforance that could justify nowadays all the hypes about him as a dancer. He is still relatively young, so probably if he really wants and works hard and hard he can be again an outstanding dancer. I hope that when his Romeo run to Mantua, he heard the dear old Virgil crying ”Hei mihi, qualis erat, quantum mutatus ab illo Sergie”. He has now an enormous popularity, but how long can it last if not substantial? He can renew it with a new tattoo or working harder: I desperately hope for the second option.

I any case, this is a Polunin production, but you don’t have to watch it because of him: you have to run to see it because it’s a good Kobborg’s idea become real, because the set is a minimalist suggestive wonder and most of the costumes (notably Juliet's ones) are beautiful too and because Alina Cojocaru is magnificent in a role created on her and by herself. And if you go and find out that Polunin has decided to be again the golden boy he was, well…what an extraordinary additional bonus that could be!

[annamk]

Thank you Anna, a very interesting read. I hope it comes to London. 

[Sim]

Wonderful review Anna, thanks so much.  

[LinMM]

What a comprehensive and terrific review many thanks 

[FionaM]

Thank you Anna.  Your report is fabulous and I agree with many of your thoughts, including that Alina was the outstanding performance of the night and that Sergei is a good principal dancer, but no longer the standout that he was.  Others have caught up.  Personally I’m not sure he is interested in training to re-achieve his best level, having “been there, done that” to near perfection for years at RB and then even better years at Stanislavsky and guesting with Osipova and Zakharova.  Nevertheless his charisma and dramatic abilities do still outshine most.

 

As you say the funeral bed being not properly secured to the floor was quite unnerving for the audience - so we can imagine how difficult it must have been for both Alina and Sergei to work around, including having to lift each other (!) onto it.  

 

Did you notice that the the dance floor became slippery quite quickly?  All the dancers became more careful with their footing and couldn’t dance with the extra dynamic they usually do, including Alina.  This may account for some of the sloppy dancing and certainly more rehearsal time, particularly on stage, would iron out much of our nitpicking.

 

It was a very moving and emotional premiere and an excellent addition to PoluninInk repertoire. 

 

It it must have cost a fortune to produce.  I hope sponsors are forthcoming 🤞

[FionaM]

Here is the official post-performance video.  We await announcements of future performances.  I wouldn’t count on it coming to London with the amount of negative sentiment in this country towards Sergei, other places may get booked first.  So if you do want to see Johan Kobborg’s gift of love to Alina Cojocaru and Sergei you may have to travel ....

 

 

[maryrosesatonapin]

Thank you @FionaE - how interesting!  That 'scenery' is perfect for the story and the venue.  We shall have to await developments....

[Pas de Quatre]

Lovely - thank you for posting.

[Bruce Wall]

What a wonderful travelogue the film makers have done for Verona.  Were they to come to London (and a substantive part of me would hope that they might choose the Lowry or the exquisite Festival Theatre in Edinburgh) I would hope that they might do the same for - i.e., gift - their UK venue.  Certainly such could but help the nation's tourist industry with aplomb.  

 

Edited September 5, 2019 by Bruce Wall

[LinMM]

Just out of interest is the Stratford on Avon Theatre ....The Swan...I think .....in any way suitable for ballet performances? 

[Amelia]

11 minutes ago, LinMM said:

Just out of interest is the Stratford on Avon Theatre ....The Swan...I think .....in any way suitable for ballet performances? 

 

 The capacity of The Swan Theatre at Stratford on Avon is 450.

https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=OuRwXbDtO62clwSc6pb4Dw&q=how+many+seats+at+swan+theatre+stratford&oq=how+many+seats+at+swan+theatre+stratford&gs_l=psy-ab.3...1893.23428..25465...4.0..0.132.3873.38j6......0....1..gws-wiz.......35i39j0i131j0j0i67j0i20i263j33i22i29i30j0i22i30j33i160j33i21j33i10i160j33i10.114mSgkjLhk&ved=0ahUKEwiw8pO0vbnkAhUtzoUKHRy1Bf8Q4dUDCAs&uact=5

[LinMM]

Thanks Amelia ....I think that's the smaller theatre so I guess it's The Royal Shakespeare Theatre....the main one I was thinking of.

Its quite a long time now since have been to the theatre there so have no idea whether the stage would be suitable for dancers or not!

I was just thinking ....in a completely non joined up way ....about the Kobburg/ Polunin R and J possibly being staged at a theatre famous for Shakespeare and also producing a nice tourist promoting video as above to promote the show!

As you do when too much time on your hands 🙄

[Jan McNulty]

19 minutes ago, LinMM said:

Thanks Amelia ....I think that's the smaller theatre so I guess it's The Royal Shakespeare Theatre....the main one I was thinking of.

Its quite a long time now since have been to the theatre there so have no idea whether the stage would be suitable for dancers or not!

I was just thinking ....in a completely non joined up way ....about the Kobburg/ Polunin R and J possibly being staged at a theatre famous for Shakespeare and also producing a nice tourist promoting video as above to promote the show!

As you do when too much time on your hands 🙄

 

I don't know whether the stage is suitable or not but Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet used to tour there.

[LinMM]

I believe they show the cinema live broadcasts there at the moment.