Last Thursday I had the opportunity to see Ballet Maribor's Radio and Juliet at the Palace theatre downtown and it was absolutely stunning. I will admit I haven't seen that many professional ballet performances but this was certainly one of the most unique that I have experienced (along with Les Trockaderos). The cast consisted of one fabulous female dancer playing Juliet of course and six beastly male dancers. The story itself was really interesting because it was so interpretive and unlike the original play that so many people are familiar with. As the title suggests, the music was entirely Radiohead songs which I really enjoyed. There were gorgeous projections and symbolism from the costumes and props like the lemon which could have been interpreted as the poison or just bitterness itself within the story. I found the choreography in the contemporary ballet by Edward Clug to be truly inspiring. The angles, quick isolations and incredible technical demand was inspiring to me as an audience member and a dancer. My only complaint was that at around 45 minutes in length it was far too short! Below I've posted a couple of my favorite parts. Hopefully they're not super illegal...
Anyway, after seeing wonderful shows such as Radio and Juliet I always feel compelled to push myself harder than ever in ballet or any technique class. I obviously do not have a future as a ballerina, nor do I want to have one, but I realize that it is vital to any dance career to put in ridiculous amounts of work in ballet class everyday. I love what Jessica said the other day in class about pushing your body farther than you think it can go whether or not anyone is looking. That's what shapes a successful career!
fight scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3hG1JvFVN8&feature=feedrec_grec_index
pas de deux:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uMINkADw5A&feature=related
I think the concept of this "revamped" "Romeo and Juliet" is so cool because it shows one way dance, including ballet, can be innovative and creative. The classics are always wonderful to be exposed to, but they have been around for so long, and they are constantly being produced somewhere. Sometimes it's good to see how they can be changed and made into something completely different. I think difference and uniqueness are good, whether successful or not, simply because they put "something else" in our minds, whether we like what we get or not. I think for such an established company to do this is good because it can reach such a large public audience. I believe this is an indication that both ballet and contemporary dance are evolving and using each other, and dance as a whole still has places to go.
ReplyDelete