Romeo and Juliet- which is part of Ballet West's repertoire- is one of the ballets I hadn't seen.... So, of course, when Birmingham Royal Ballet toured it to Nottingham, I couldn't resist buying a ticket. And the opportunity to watch company class too?!
I had already seen company class- taught by Marion Tait in 2014- however I was particularly keen to see one of my idols, the beautiful Miko Fogarty, who joined the company as an Artist in 2015.
The class was, as I had expected, fascinating. The dancers, despite being exhausted from the previous night's show, demonstrated clear focus and determination in every exercise, something I definitely need to learn to replicate!! However, I was interested to notice that most of the women did class on demi pointe, not pointe.... And even the professionals have a bad pirouette day sometimes!!! The teacher didn't give much detail on the exercises, however did give technical corrections to individual dancers.
Celine Gittens particularly shone, dancing virtuosic pirouettes and althletic, dazzling allegro.
The performance began with a marketplace scene, with the corps de ballet demonstrating excellent accuracy and timing in a spectacular sword fight!
Yaoquian Shang portrayed a delightfully youthful Juliet, who played with her Nurse, Ruth Brill, in such a joyful manner, that anyone would question why her parents expected her to marry Paris at such a jejune age.
The set and costumes were sublime, effortlessly transforming from the bustling marketplace, to Juliet's room, with an impressive staircase adding to the luxurious interior of the Capulet mansion.
Surprisingly, Prokofiev's iconic "Dance of the Knights" did not accompany a fight scene, but instead, the ballroom scene, where, again, the corps de ballet displayed their excellent unity and artistry, adorned in spellbinding costumes.
The dramatic highlight, however, was in Act 3; Juliet, having secretly been married by Friar Lawrence to her beloved Romeo, refused to marry her parents' choice of husband, Paris. A defiant pas de deux ensued, in which Juliet refused to comply with Paris, making for some captivatingly unusual choreography. Juliet, upon refusing to marry Paris, rushed to Friar Lawrence, who gave her a potion to make her fall into a deep sleep, deceiving her parents into thinking she was dead. Alone in her room with her vial of potion, Juliet's anguish, agitation, confusion and torment radiated throughout thr theatre, giving the scene a breathtaking intensity, and showcasing Yaoquian Shang's phenomenal talent not only as a dancer, but also as an actress. The spellbinding acting, from not only Juliet, but also Romeo, Lady Capulet and the Nurse, easily kept the audience entranced throughout- and the standing ovation during the curtain calls was so definitely deserved!!
After the performance, I dashed to the stage door, eagerly brandishing a pair of pointe shoes and a pen, delighted to have my shoes signed by such talented dancers. It was a pleasure to meet and talk to Brandon Lawrence, Brooke Ray, Yaoquian Shang, Lewis Turner, Cesar Morales, Max Maslen, and one of my ex-teachers, Ruth Brill, who recognised me and greeted me with a delightful enthusiasm!!
I quickly realised, though, that Miko, having danced Lady Montague, had left during the 2nd interval. However, after an hour and a half stood by the stage door, Miko returned to the theatre! She was so lovely, with a genuine, sweet sense of appreciation- evidently not realising her own fame, she said "Thankyou so much for waiting, I've never had a fan wait to meet me before!!" She eagerly signed my pointe shoes and posed for photographs, which I will cherish forever!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment