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Romeo and Juliet

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Author	Topic: Romeo and Juliet
ballet_girl Member	posted January 16, 2002 12:59 Has anyone either seen or danced in the Nureyev version of R+J. We are rehearsing the Macmillan R+J at the moment for performance later on in the season. What are the differences/similarities between the two-I didn't want to ask anyone in the company for fear of looking stupid!(I should have done my homework-I know the MAcmillan version very well but know nothing about the Nureyev production except that he choreographed it! IP: Logged
Basheva Moderator	posted January 16, 2002 14:20 Ballet Girl, I am going to move this to the Ballet Forum, I think you will get more responses there..... IP: Logged
Basheva Moderator	posted January 16, 2002 14:19 Nureyev choreographed a version in 1977 for London Festival Ballet. I don't think I have ever seen it. IP: Logged
Stuart Sweeney Administrator	posted January 16, 2002 14:51 English National Ballet, the successor to London Festival Ballet, are reviving the Nureyev version this year and I am looking forward to seeing it. Here is a brief note about it from the ENB site: ******************************* Rudolf Nureyev’s Romeo and Juliet In this magnificent staging of Romeo and Juliet, Prokofiev’s powerful and dramatic score and Shakespeare’s tragic story are brilliantly combined with Nureyev’s inventive choreography and Frigerio’s vivid designs. This passionate and intensely theatrical production sees the deeply intoxicating love affair between Romeo and Juliet set against a rich and fast-moving backdrop of Renaissance Verona, which blazes with energy. **************************** Jane Pritchard is one of the leading archivists in the UK and has two pieces on the ENB site about 'Romeo and Juliet' covering the history of the stage and dance productions: From Page to Stage From William Shakespeare to Baz Luhrmann** [This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited January 16, 2002).] IP: Logged
Glebb Member	posted January 16, 2002 20:19 I saw Nureyev's R&J at the MET a long time ago. Sorry, I can't remember a lot about it, but I do remember some kind of long carnival dance with banners or ribbons in Act II. I also remember Juliet dancing to the music of Lady Capulet's lament, on the death of Tybalt. IP: Logged
crandc Member	posted January 18, 2002 10:16 A video is available of the MacMillan (sp?) choreography of R & J with Fonteyn & Nureyev in title roles. Do you have it available in your class? IP: Logged
sylvia Member	posted January 18, 2002 13:04 POB has a video/DVD of Nureyev's R&J as well. I've seen the video and admittedly I didn't like it a great deal. I think it's psychologically over-complex (well it's Nureyev!) The dancing itself made me feel very uncomfortable - crammed with too many steps I thought, and a lot of them looked like lots of classroom steps hemmed together. It doesn't 'breathe' and the choreography doesn't seem as integrated with the Prokofiev music as the MacMillan version. But that's just a personal opinion. I've become so familiar with MacMillan's choreography it's a little hard for me to accept other versions. Is this the same one as the ENB ballet? Maybe they'll change my mind come March! [This message has been edited by sylvia (edited January 18, 2002).] IP: Logged
Basheva Moderator	posted January 18, 2002 13:30 The only other version of Romeo and Juliet that I have seen that I like just about as much as MacMillan, is the Russian version choreographed by Lavrovsky. I have a tape of it with Ulanova and Zhdanov, and it is really quite wonderful. IP: Logged
Pokrovsky Member	posted January 18, 2002 15:03 Indeed, Ulanova's Juliet remains the incarnation of spiritual love - Shakespeare's power without any naturalistic colouring. There was another "R & J" production at the Bolshoi, by Grigorovich, which was shown in London at the Coliseum and Albert Hall. Videos of this production (with Natalia Bessmertnova and Mikhail Lavrovsky) still can be found in London shops. IP: Logged
Basheva Moderator	posted January 18, 2002 17:11 As I recall, Fonteyn spoke of Ulanova's Juliet quite eloquently while she was preparing to dance the role herself. Going further back into my memory, she said that she found it especially difficult to bring the meaning she wanted to Juliet's run - when she runs from her bedroom to the priest. Fonteyn said she watched Ulanova's run over and over and couldn't understand why Ulanova's was so successful, whilst Fonteyn felt that her own effort was missing something. And then she figured it out. Ulanova was not simply running - she was running TO something, not away from something. Whenever I see that run done by any ballerina I try to see the meaning behind that run. Is the ballerina saying something with that run or simply moving quickly? IP: Logged
LMCtech Moderator	posted January 19, 2002 10:25 Does anyone know if there is a video of Cranko's R&J? I keep hearing great things about it, but haven't seen it. IP: Logged
Basheva Moderator	posted January 19, 2002 11:31 I have six tapes of the complete (various choreographers) R & J - but not one Cranko version. Very recently I went through all 362 ballet tapes available at Amazon - and I don't recall seeing his version. I would have ordered it if I had. [This message has been edited by Basheva (edited January 19, 2002).] IP: Logged
Glebb Member	posted January 19, 2002 11:35 Cranko's version is really wonderful. I am partial because I have danced corps, Benvolio, and Mercutio in his version. There is a film of Stuttgart BAllet in Cranko's R&J with Marcia and Ricky. It is quite old and I don't know that it is for sale. IP: Logged
Pokrovsky Member	posted January 19, 2002 15:17 Dear Basheva, here is a piece from Fonteyn's "Autobiography" where she describes Ulanova's run: "The most breathtaking moment came when, despairing, Juliet threw her cloak round her shoulders and ran across the stage, 'leaving everything behind'. Fred had told me a thousand times he wished I had seen the way Pavlova ran across the stage, 'leaving everything behind'. I never could understand, even from his impersonations, how it was achieved. Curiously enough, running and walking are more difficult to master in ballet than many of the complicated steps. Now at last I saw. A few moments later, Ulanova left Friar Laurence with swift steps depicting glowing hope. The contrast was striking. IP: Logged
Basheva Moderator	posted January 19, 2002 15:46 Thank you Pokrovsky - that is most interesting. Obviously my memory was faulty in that I remembered her saying 'running to something' - when she actually said 'leaving everything behind.' Ulanova does both, she runs from her bedroom 'leaving everything behind.' And then she runs 'to something' when she returns home from visiting the priest. In the end I think it is the same. She gives meaning to the run - it isn't simply quick movement. Ulanova saw those runs as an opportunity to deepen the emotion of the story. Thanks again, Pokrovsky, for refreshing my memory. IP: Logged
Azlan Administrator	posted January 19, 2002 20:55 Wow, Glebb, you must be intimate with the Cranko version then! IP: Logged
Glebb Member	posted January 19, 2002 21:55 The Cranko version is very warm, human and real. IP: Logged
DavidH Member	posted January 20, 2002 12:05 IMHO the Crank version is the best of 'em all! D IP: Logged
Stuart Sweeney Administrator	posted January 20, 2002 12:11 I love the MacMillan version dearly. However, having just seen Cranko's 'Onegin' I can believe that he handled the development of the love affair in an expressive way and brought out the characterisation with similar brilliance. You can't please all the people all the time, but I do wonder why Arlene Croce had such a down on Cranko and wrote that vicious and dismissive review on Stuttgart's first visit to New York. [This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited January 20, 2002).] IP: Logged
Basheva Moderator	posted January 20, 2002 07:52 Maybe because she was writing in the dark... I have Cranko's Taming of the Shrew, and find it warm, clever, and wholly enjoyable. His was a talent that died too soon. IP: Logged
AlinWond Member	posted January 22, 2002 11:03 OK, my two cents about this... It's funny because a few months ago I was asking the exact reverse question on this board, I only knew Noureev's version and had vaguely heard there was an other one, so I asked about it here. I have finaly found a videotape of MacMillan version so now I can compare the two. First of all I am not at all a dance professional, I can only speak from the public's point of view. And of course even if I try I can not be objective, but I am aware of the fact that "what I prefer" is not "what is the best" ! I also have to say that it is difficult to separate the choreography from the dancer's interpretation when you have seen the ballet danced by one cast only... My opinion : let's say I prefer Noureev's version for everything BUT the pas de deux parts, which are breathtaking in MacMillan version... The main differences in my eyes : - the setting : It is much bigger in N's version, at least on my tape since it was filmed in the Opéra Bastille, so it gives a very different feeling. Watching MM's version, you feel this is a story happening to a few people in a little place. Watching N's version, you feel it's a drama involving a whole big town. Not that one is superior to the other - it's different. It also implies that MM's version concentrates on the main characters, while N's version creates a whole universe, a civilisation of its owns. You feel you are transported in an other time and place, the dancing makes you feel Verona - not only Romeo and Juliet's story (and I personnally like it, because I understand Romeo and Juliet's story better when I know their universe, but that's me !). - the pantomime : N's version uses less pantomime, usually what MM mimes, N dances it. MM chose the "realistic" option, N chose to evoque (and I think it is more successful, but again that's just me, and it can also be due to the dancer's ability, perhaps those I saw in MM's version were not very good at miming). - the ressemblance with Shakespeare's text : N tried (and in my opinion succeded) to translate every single line of Shakespeare through dance. So there are many parts that are omitted by MM or replaced by something else that you can find in N's version. Again, MM concentrates on "the main things". - the men's choreography : Well... as you can expect from Noureev, he paid great attention on the male characters parts. Wich is fortunate since the among the 9 main characters, 6 are men! They are very much developped, Benvolio, Mercutio, Tybalt, Paris, Romeo, each one has its own character, its own steps, its personnality that is showed through the dancing. And it is the same for the relationship between the three Montague boys : they are not three ballet characters dancing side by side on the stage (and, sorry for the men who danced the MM's version I saw but this was the main weakness of the whole ballet : they were not able to dance together to save their life ! sorry if this sounds harsh, but I was really disturbed by that). They are three young boys who spent their childhood together, who know each other by heart and who have fun making jokes together. OK, that's all I can think of now, I will come back if I remember something else. Again, all of this is only my personnal, subjective, un-knowledgeable point of view ! IP: Logged
Basheva Moderator	posted January 22, 2002 11:25 thank you Alinwond for a most insightful critique of the two versions. I didn't find it unknowledgeable at all, in fact quite the opposite. I don't think I have ever heard of anyone talking about the relationship between the three friends as you have. That was especially eye - opening. Once again, thanks. IP: Logged
Stuart Sweeney Administrator	posted January 22, 2002 11:39 Alinwond, my thanks also for this valuable comparison. I have only seen the MacMillan version, but I have heard others also say that it is the pdds that stand out in the production. I watched 'Mayerling' on video last week and it was the pdds that stood out for me. Durante and Mukhamedev sent sparks flying in ALL directions. Getting male soloists to dance together can be a problem. What was the cast in the MM version you saw? IP: Logged
AlinWond Member	posted January 22, 2002 12:43 Thanks to both of you for your kind words ! Stuart, unfortunately I can't answer your question because I borrowed the tape from a library, and don't have it any more ; and I am not familiar with the Royal Ballet's dancers, so I can't remember their names. Searching the web I have found only the names of three dancers : Ferri, Eagling, Hoskins ; I knew A.Ferri was the one who danced Juliet, seeing his name I remember now that Romeo was Eagling, but I don't know what was Hoskins' role. I would guess Mercutio ? I don't know if it can help, but I remember beeing very surprised by the "older" look of the male dancers, I was like "what, he is Mercutio ? he could be Juliet's father !" ; I think I had this impression because they all had beards and mustaches, but I don't know if it was their usual look, or if they had false ones that were supposed to go with the costume and make-up (so I'm not sure it will help to find who were the dancers !). I don't know if it makes sense, I don't feel comfortable with my English tonight ! IP: Logged

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