Well, we had a grand time because it was fun to go out together. Unfortunately, we didn't find this particular incarnation of Romeo and Juliet to be all that. As I (meanly, I know) said to my date, it was as if we watched the 'B' team perform. They were good, everything was done well, but there was no spark, no pizazz, no oomph. And you know how I love me some oomph. I really wanted the evening to be a "I saw a star being born tonight!!" I'm sorry it didn't happen that way for me...
I've seen MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet a number of times, it may have even been the first live ballet I ever saw (I can't remember; I can't remember what I had for lunch today, so...you get the picture). I see it at ABT frequently, though I did miss seeing it last year. But the performances I saw in 2013 were sublime (you can see that review HERE). Last night...was not. It seemed as if our leads were nervous, so there was no connection, no sweeping love story, no passion, and frankly, not much of anything. Again, it was nicely danced, but not much else.
I asked my gorgeous date if he thought the music sounded too slow and he agreed, saying it definitely could've been 'brighter.' Actually, that's a good comment about the whole ballet. I know it's tragic, but it could've been danced with more air, more lightness, more buoyancy, more of what makes ballet great. It was very earthbound and rather leaden at times. I'm generally a sucker for the sad story ballets, but I was completely unmoved last night. Which made me sad. Ironically.
The crowd was more diverse than usual, which is fantastic, and there were lots of hoots and hollers for our Juliet, though, surprisingly, there was still only one curtain call. I don't think anyone was transported the way they should be at the end of a great Romeo and Juliet. I'm all for more publicity for ballet and for diversifying the audience, but I'd like some great ballet to happen, too. That doesn't seem like too much to ask.
photo credit: Rosalie O'Connor |
I guess I shouldn't complain about a performance I got to see for free. I was happy to be there, I'm always happy to be there. But I also want the performance to equal the hype and I didn't think it did, unfortunately. I did catch a few new nuances in the music, which was fun, and I also enjoyed a dancer who was new to me - Grant DeLong as Paris - but on the whole, I was just ready to either go home and watch videos of past performances of the ballet, or to hop in a time machine to be transported one more time by the magic of Julie Kent. Thankfully, I only have to wait a few more days before I can revel in that performance. Oh, and apparently I need to have a tutorial on how to use my co-worker's camera - it worked fine last week, but last night, I couldn't get it to focus at all. Annoying, especially since our seats were pretty close. Oh well. Just added to the non-perfection of the evening, I guess...
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