Theater Review
Romeo and Juliet Ralf Rossa
Theater Halle, 06.01.05 (Premiere for Second Cast.)
This is the first Ballet I've seen by R. Rossa, and it was the day
before I went to audition in Halle. It was very... close to modern at
some parts, and truly nemo-classic in others, and on occasion, very
close to classical Ballet. And I felt that the inspiration also varied:
there were part where I thought it was absolutely divine, and perfectly
choreographed, and others, where I lost all interest, or was annoyed.
(The extreme examples I can think of: The Nurse, dancing with Mercutio,
was absolutely perfect, whereas, the meeting of Romeo and Juliet, was...
much, much to childish, and, well, Silly. -I can appreciate, that they
are Both quite innocent, and young, but still... to me, they looked like
six year olds.)
One other part that sticks out in my mind, is the Ball, which I
thought was excellent use of the chor-de-ballet. That was one part where
the choreography really... Worked, for me. (Some other, random thoughts
of scenes: For the 3/8 section, with the ridiculous runs in the orchestra,
Juliet is alone, and half distracted, and she dreamed scenes of
everything; So the dancers were all running across, and going by, and
she saw her brother dying again, and so on, and I thought that it was
a very good idea, and that it worked. The first scene, how ever, was
alright for an introduction of the characters, I guess, but I didn't
enjoy it, and to me, it seemed like -an uninspired moment. (That Herr
Rossa didn't really know what to do, and set it like that, and wouldn't
have been to pleased afterwards, but let it remain.) -This Could all be,
well, just my distaste for the modern-hip-hop style that they were
dancing then. All I know, was that I didn't approve of it.)
A few other things that worked marvelously; Well, starting with
something that didn't work so well: the whole ballet was set more as
contemporary Now, and so, the families were fighting with Knives. And,
well, that worked alright when it was Mercutio and Tybalt, because it's
half a game, and a lot of dance steps didn't weaken the action. But when
Romeo was after Tybalt's Blood, in a passionate fury... the knives seemed
just silly, and the dancing around the stage... contrived, and fake. (No
one who's in a blind rage is going to do jetés en tournent!)
But... that then led to, and added, (a bit,) to the effectiveness, when
Romeo stopped messing around, and pulled a Gun and Shot him.
(And you have to be in the public to appreciate that moment, because
the music is So passionate, and the gunshot So loud, and all movement
suddenly ceases. -It was powerful.) So, after that, came another
effective moment: when Lady Capulet comes in, and finds her dead son.
It's a moment of Pathos all around the stage, with people hiding their
faces in their hands, two corpses on stage, Lady Capulet laughing like a
mad woman, (silently, mind you,) and the Priest going up to Romeo and
Beating him, (after all, He's just done a huge favour for the young
couple, and wedded them in secret, and then Romeo goes and kills someone
in the street.) Then, just before the curtain closes, Romeo runs off,
and Lady Capulet, on Center, goes from deranged laughter, to raging
screaming at the priest, (Again, silently.)
Hmmm... the three places where the tears escaped me, were the Death of
Mercutio, Juliet taking the "Poison", and the Deaths at the end. (And
this ballet ended with that: the parents of Juliet did not come on and
discover the pair.)
What else is there to say? The setting was modern, so many of the
costumes were... unappealing to me. (The girls had some skimpy tops, and
others were in Jeans, and well... pop-styles. Not to an excess, mind
you, but I don't care for it at all.) Some of the costumes were still
alright though, and for the ball, they looked like... respectable
dancers all. I actually rather liked the look of the Ball. The Sets were
also rather Modern. Actually, it's more like "Set," because... well... a
grid, on the three walls, and the ceiling, of neon-blue fluorescent
lights, about two meters apart. Make sense? And so, there were
different patterns of which ones were turned on for each scene. (It could
be only the back, or only vertical, or just one big square for the
roof.) -and in two scenes, they were turned up full, so that there was
Bright Blue Light, shining into the audience's eyes. (Which was
effective, both times they used it.) So... again, in places, this worked
well, but in others, I thought it was ... unsuited.
One thing I did like about the set, was that there was a white curtain
they pulled across, (HUGE white curtain, that goes right up to the
roof,) when the scene was in Juliet's room. And that effect... just
Worked, somehow. I couldn't say why, but it felt very right. -And I can
appreciate the intelligence that then had the curtain Half way across the
back, for the Balcony scene, because it So clearly represented both
Outside, and Inside. I really did think it was quite clever.
Well, that's all that comes to my mind at the moment. And I find that
I can do nothing, but repeat myself: that it had it's good points, as
well as some bad.