Star-crossed lovers shine in mesmerizing performance

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This article was published 16/02/2024 (934 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In a world wracked by ancestral strife, Shakespeare’s tale of ill-fated lovers caught in the crosshairs of deadly family feuds is as potent as ever.

The Royal Winnipeg Ballet presented its latest production of Romeo & Juliet — choreographed in 1965 by Rudi van Dantzig and performed en pointe Thursday night — as it opened a four-show run that wraps up Sunday.

It’s been five years since the company last staged the narrative ballet in February 2019. The 143-minute (including intermission) ballet received its RWB première in September 1981, with the company’s former principal dancer, legendary Canadian prima ballerina Evelyn Hart, in the lead role.

Remounting any ballet provides a golden opportunity to witness longtime company dancers growing more deeply into their characters. In this case, now-principal dancer Elizabeth Lamont (all lead roles alternating) delivered a tour de force portrayal in her reprisal of Juliet. The ethereal dancer morphs before our eyes from young ingénue, flitting about and teasing her Nurse (soloist Yayoi Ban, reprising her role) with girlish glee, to a woman passionately in love with her Romeo.

Each of her pas de deux, performed with her lover (soloist Stephan Azulay), was so nuanced, her pristine classical technique equally matched by breathtaking acting skills, that she became Juliet to the very core and fibre of her being.

Her impulsively swallowing “poison” (the ballet sensitively now comes with a trigger warning for suicide) is harrowing, as she desperately staggers about the stage, capturing the intense conflict of her character’s fateful decision, before ultimately collapsing into bed as her life force ebbs.

Azulay brings enthralling athleticism to his protagonist character, effectively straddling swoon-worthy romance and hotheaded machismo while egged on by his strapping companions, Benvolio (second soloist Liam Saito) and Mercutio (second soloist Marco Lo Presti).

The latter dancer — a company newcomer in his first season — stunned the weeknight audience with his blood-chilling death scene after being stabbed by Juliet’s cousin Tybalt, performed with seething swagger by soloist Peter Lancksweerdt.

What a joy to see guest artists Catherine Wreford and Craig Ramsay, RWB School alumni and former Broadway stars, onstage again as Juliet’s parents, Lady and Lord Capulet. Bravo to both for their fearless, full-on characterization, as Lady Capulet wails over her fallen daughter, while her exasperated husband bullies Juliet as she defies their arranged marriage to Count Paris (corps de ballet member Tymin Keown).

Kudos also to Jaime Vargas — a former RWB dancer now serving as one of the company’s two ballet masters — who infuses the show with dignified gravitas as both the Duke of Verona and Friar Laurentis.

The ensemble sections were particularly effective, including seeing 13 students from the RWB School Professional/Recreational Divisions fill the stage with their youthful energy as Veronese village children circa 1,400.

A highlight is Act II’s joyous celebration of “a saint,” with the abrupt, shocking appearance of the sickle-wielding Giant Death Figure (Keown) portending tragedy to come.

Romeo and Juliet is unimaginable without Prokofiev’s angular, wholly contemporary score; the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra is led with gusto by RWB principal conductor Julian Pellicano. The maestro navigates its whipsaw textural and emotional shifts, ranging from stylized, buoyant mandolin dances to belching brass effects, with aplomb, as well as a true understanding of the power of live music in bringing dance to life.

The production also features effective, multi-level sets and sumptuous costumes by Toer van Schayk, with dramatic lighting by Nicholas Cernovitch. A special nod goes to fight director Jacqueline Loewen, who keeps these dancers safe during their adrenalin-pumping, clashing swordfight scenes.

The way this age-old story ends is not exactly a surprise — nor is the enthusiastic standing ovation it received.

After Juliet’s limp body is discovered, lying in her deceased lover’s arms as the lights dim, Shakespeare’s tale brings peace and healing to the warring families. One can only hope that life will someday imitate art; this mesmerizing ballet created decades ago serving as a cautionary tale to 21st-century Capulets and Montagues.

holly.harris@shaw.ca