Royal Ballet - Romeo and Juliet - Winter 2022

[Dawnstar]

@SimI was somewhat moved by Ball in the final scene, though not to anywhere near the point of tears. Whether or not that was due to Cuthbertson being "unconscious" at that point... 😉 I'm sure my restricted view didn't help - it's harder to be moved by pdds when the participants keep moving out of sight behind pillar & proscenium arch - but I don't think it was just due to that, because I had a restricted view for Kaneko/Bracewell & was extremely moved by them. Oh well, I found 5 out of the 7 R&J performances I've seen this season to be very moving so I guess that's a pretty good ratio. (The other one that didn't do it for me was Naghdi/Muntagirov, though Naghdi/Campbell did.)

Edited February 25, 2022 by Dawnstar

[Rob S]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rob S]

A few observations from yesterday evening....the lights took a while to turn off after Juliet looks up at the audience during her opening scene....the bottle of poison got lost in her scarf after removal it from under the pillow, the scarf had to be laid out on the bed to find it!! Also, a lovely moment from Ashley Dean (as Juliet's friend) in act 2 when Benvolio rescues another friend's flowers from the harlot...Benjamin Ella threw them over his shoulder but they looked to be heading for the floor until Ashley appeared and caught them one handed and then did a little celebratory dance. 🙂

[Dawnstar]

2 hours ago, Rob S said:

Also, a lovely moment from Ashley Dean (as Juliet's friend) in act 2

 

Are the girls in the procession supposed to be Juliet's friends at that point? I know they're the same dancers but I'm not sure if they're supposed to be the same characters.

[Rob S]

9 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

Are the girls in the procession supposed to be Juliet's friends at that point? I know they're the same dancers but I'm not sure if they're supposed to be the same characters.

 

Yes, their extra long and thick pony tail disguises don't fool me.

[Dawnstar]

49 minutes ago, Rob S said:

Yes, their extra long and thick pony tail disguises don't fool me.

 

Talking of pony tails, did Whitehead end the run still with his?

[Rob S]

45 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

Talking of pony tails, did Whitehead end the run still with his?

 

No, he had it down for his final Friar performance.

[art_enthusiast]

On 25/02/2022 at 17:26, Sim said:

I found that I wasn't moved at all last night.  I don't know why.  Matthew was his usual passionate, ardent Romeo, but I just didn't feel a deep connection there with his Juliet. 

When I compare how devastated I felt at the end of Naghdi/Ball, Kaneko/Bracewell, Naghdi/Campbell, Osipova/Clarke, Magri/Richardson, O'Sullivan/Sambe and Nunez/Bonelli, I was left strangely cold last night.  

Interesting you say this. I completely agree with you on this - For this ballet to work for me, I really need to feel the connection between the two leads from the get-go. That's absolutely essential for Romeo and Juliet, and I believe that I was quite convinced of this during Matthew and Lauren's performance on the 19th.

I felt that Matthew was genuinely passionate, his grief during Act 3 did not feel forced, and her devastation also seemed very natural and moving - I found the extremely difficult partnering with the unconscious Juliet very well performed by them. For Magri/Richardson, I felt that the crypt partnering seemed slightly precarious on his part - of course, it was his debut so I imagine that it will of course become more natural for him with more experience.

One part of Lauren's performance that really impressed me was Juliet's first entrance - as in this scene, it's essential to appear extremely youthful and innocent - demonstrated by all the playful/mischievous behaviour with her Nurse, the toy, etc. (I have to admit I found this slightly bizarre when first seeing the ballet, as the behaviour is extremely childlike from fully grown adults - jumping into the Nurse's lap, etc - of course, to demonstrate Juliet's extreme youth and innocence).

But I feel that Lauren, even as a slightly more mature dancer than the other Juliets this Season, really nailed this part and made it very believable. Of course, Natalia Osipova absolutely nailed it as well - when I saw her, I was convinced that this dancer who is currently, I believe, 35 - is actually a naive teenager delighted with life.

Melissa Hamilton on the other hand is a superb, beautiful Juliet who moved me to tears, but I wasn't quite convinced by her version of the entrance scene and its very childlike nature.

[alison]

Bumping this thread, because I've been interested to note, from the reviews of American Ballet Theatre's performances in today's Links, that they have the same dancer playing Escalus and Friar Lawrence, rather than Lord Montague and Friar Lawrence as the Royal Ballet do.  I wonder whether that's a good/better idea?

[Emeralds]

I’d actually prefer different dancers to play each of the roles. 😊 But if doubling in something is necessary, would prefer that to be Lord Montague and Friar Lawrence (the Royal Ballet’s practice) rather than the same dancer portraying Escalus and Friar Lawrence, as both are quite prominent roles, which could confuse novice ballet attendees.