Romeo + Juliet

Early last Sunday morning, I joined hundreds of other New Yorkers queuing up for free tickets to an open dress rehearsal for the New York City Ballet's "world premiere" of Sergei Prokofiev's two-act ballet, Romeo + Juliet. (Based on the similarly named Shakespearean play, rather than the movie that came out in the mid-nineties.) This is not the first time Prokofiev's ballet has been performed, so I'm not entirely sure what the "world premiere" refers to -- maybe to Peter Martins' choreography?

In any event, you could tell it was a big deal - the ceiling was festooned with large and majestic purple ribbons.



Docents stood on all the levels with historic ballet costumes from the archives - including some dating back to the original productions of Balanchine ballets.

Peter Martins himself came out before the performance and again at intermission to speak to us.

The ballet was lovely. All the Shakespearean speeches and characters were clearly translated into movement (and music). Mercutio translated amazingly well. Sometimes they used exaggerated pantomime to act out something (e.g., dramatic pointing to the exit when the Capulets discover that Romeo has crashed their party to make it clear he is not welcome and must leave). One other comment: although Porokiev obviously composed the ballet long before West Side Story was written, I think it may be difficult for a modern choreographer not to be informed in some way by the Sharks and the Jets when puting together the intial ballet interactions between the Capulets and Montagues. There is some of the same adolescent energy, sassiness and mutual provocation, a push-pull of conflict and sensuality.

For a dress rehearsal - and the very first time they put everything together (costumes, scenery, orchestra, lights and dancers) - it was an incredibly polished performance. In fact, it was more like an opening night than anything else. The crowd went wild. And I think the dancers were reallly gratified by the reaction. This is perhaps what happens when you open the high-fallutin' ballet halls to the masses. New Yorkers love a bargain.

My tickets were up in the third tier, so I brought binoculars. But I really didn't need them...