Synopsis Romeo gate-crashes a ball given by his family's enemies, the Capulets, only to fall in love with their daughter Juliet. Their passion is mutual, but the hatred between their families forces their relationship to a catastrophic conclusion. The Mariinsky Ballet opens the season with the eagerly awaited return of Romeo and Juliet, one of the most cherished ballets in its repertory. Set to Prokofiev’s magnificent score, the ballet portrays the bittersweet love of the star-crossed lovers from their first fateful meeting to their untimely and tragic deaths. Danced by renowned Mariinsky ballerinas Alina Somova, Evgenia Obraztsova and Olesya Novikova, partnered by Andrian Fadeev, Vladimir Shklyarov and Igor Kolb, the most famous love story of all time is presented in its original version by Leonid Lavrovsky, embodying all the drama and passion of Shakespeare’s text.
The Mariinsky is one of the best ballet companies in the world, although you’d never know it from its Romeo and Juliet which opened a two-week visit to Opera House last night. Unlike the Kenneth Macmillan version, whose naturalistic acting and loose-limbed dancing has become pretty much definitive, the Mariinsky production has a 19th-century formality and grandeur that feels old fashioned and out of sync.
In fact, it was only made in 1940, and while it will surely have looked innovative in the then Soviet Union, its style of dancing and, in particular, it style of acting look creaky and pompous to modern-day eyes.
The Capulets and Montagues are little more than pantomime villains, with bad wigs and silly beards. Tybalt (Ilya Kuznetsov) was especially cloak-and-dagger, with a lavish grimace and clenched fists. I honestly don’t know if this style is admired in Russia today, or if it’s just something the dancers have foisted on them. You can’t imagine young performers in the twenties adopting these theatrical quirks out of choice.
Either way, British audiences will find it stunts the story and disconnects them from the tragedy. The lead dancers don’t help as they are so different. Vladimir Shklyaro’s Romeo is a good-looking young dancer with natural manners more in keeping with British taste. He hurtles around like an energetic pup, leaping and spinning with considerable flair.
The very pretty Alina Somova plays Juliet as the Swan Queen. This may be the Russian way, but the jarring different between her style from his makes it hard to believe the two would get it together. Somova also has an extreme technique and exaggerated flexibility that makes her hips and knees look like they’re about to pop inside out. It is not attractive to watch, while her U-shaped split leaps (with both feet higher than her pelvis – all is usually horizontal) are freakishly distracting.
Happily, the Mariinsky is still to dance Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and a Balanchine mixed bill – three ballets the Mariinsky perform with a classical purity we have long admired.
Home of the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet. Follow link to see details of Royal Opera House website (launched March 97) and other information. Member of the Society of London Theatre. Also known as Covent Garden. Closed from July 1997 for refurbishment - reopened Dec 1999. Minicom Tel: 020 7212 9228
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