Theater Review

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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.