William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” has been adapted countless times for stage and screen. This timeless, tragic love story with sword fights, a ball, and vibrant market scenes seems just made for interpretation through dance. During the last century, it has become one of ballet’s most popular tales to adapt.
Prokofiev’s Ballet
In 1935, Sergei Prokofiev composed the score for a ballet of “Romeo and Juliet.” Since its first full production in 1940 at the Kirov Theatre (now the Marinsky Theatre), his score has been used for numerous adaptations by many choreographers.
Suites of the music and a one-act version of Prokofiev’s traditional ballet were produced in the five years following its completion, but the full ballet wasn’t staged until 1940. This telling, originally choreographed by Leonid Lavrovsky, charmed audiences from its premiere and has remained in the great Russian company’s repertoire ever since.
This adaptation, as one would expect, is the most classical, both in narrative and choreography. The precision of the rigorously trained Russian dancers, each a perfect physical specimen for ballet, is truly a wonder to watch.
Prokofiev’s ballet has little involvement of the danseur (male ballet dancer) who performs Romeo in the first scene. The choreographer leaves out several elements of Shakespeare’s tale, which the audience needs to fill in.
MacMillan’s Ballet
Kenneth MacMillan’s adaptation, choreographed for the Royal Ballet in 1965, is what some consider the definitive version. His version of the balcony pas de deux (a dance between two people) is the best-known and, while costume and set design vary with each production, the choreography remains consistent.
Today, it’s a staple not only in the Royal Ballet’s repertoire, but also in that of American Ballet Theatre, one of the U.S.’s premiere companies, and Italy’s famed Teatro alla Scala.
This version also takes the storyline for granted a bit. The choreography is a bit more modern. (The three harlots are too prominent in the street scenes, especially in their relation to Romeo.) In Juliet’s first scene, a grown woman attempts to seem youthful by playing with a doll, and she and her nurse both do a rather awkward pantomime relating to her physical development into a woman.
This adaptation has a fascinating story behind its creation. MacMillan did not, as is widely believed, create this ballet for Fonteyn and Nureyev. It was written for his balletic muse, Lynn Seymour, and her dance partner, Christopher Gable. Not long before opening, Seymour discovered she was pregnant, and Fonteyn and Nureyev debuted the ballet at the insistence of tour manager Sol Hurok.
Later in Chicago, Seymour and Gable performed at the last minute for the famous pair. While they eventually won the audience over, the unfortunate consensus of the reviews was basically how amazing the “real cast” must have been if the understudies were that good. The current Royal Ballet version is gorgeously designed by Nicholas Georgiadis.
The Neumeier Ballet
In 1971, John Neumeier wrote his own version of “Romeo and Juliet,” which premiered in Hamburg, Germany, in 1974. In recent years, it has been most notably performed by the Royal Danish Ballet. The recording of the company’s 2016 production, features the stunning young dance couple Ida Praetorius and Andreas Kaas.While lacking some of the pomp and circumstance of the Prokofiev and MacMillan versions, the production is filled with excitement and sentiment. It goes to the core of young love: the story of two kids in love torn apart by their families’ hatred.
Romeo and Juliet are youngest in Neumeier’s ballet, as they run and chase in their pas de deux. Juliet is introduced as a young girl, not yet 14, who is being forced into the strict mold of her ancient family and can’t quite measure up.
The costumes and sets are minimalist; the ballroom scene is costumed entirely in red and black tones, while the lovers stand out in bright costumes of white and blue. This version depicts Mercutio as a performer with a traveling troupe, who twice acts out the lead couple’s story in pantomime, making this the only version in which every plot detail is completely clear.
Neumeier’s version implies an affair between Tybalt and Lady Capulet, possibly to make her dramatic grieving scene after his death more understandable.
Each ballet adaptation of this tale, beyond the three I’ve compared, has merit and beauty all its own, such as older versions by Frederick Ashton and John Cranko, or by the ever-brilliant Alexei Ratmansky. The choreographers have found a unique slant on this immortal love story and told it through his own distinct style of movement.
Great ballet is at one’s fingertips through streaming services, such as YouTube, Amazon Prime, or the Royal Opera House’s own website. Dance lovers need only reach out and take it.
