Ballet Babble: The Royal Ballet - Romeo and Juliet with Steven McCrae and Sarah Lamb

Saturday, October 24, 2015

The Royal Ballet - Romeo and Juliet with Steven McCrae and Sarah Lamb

With friends in NYC to see The Royal Ballet's Romeo and Juliet .
Scroll down for link to show times to see Royal Ballet in theaters.

This past Sunday I went to go see The Royal Ballet's performance of Romeo and Juliet in the cinema. It was a recorded version of the performance. Romeo was played by Steven McRae and Juliet was played by Sarah Lamb.

WOW! It was so amazing!! I absolutely loved it. Romeo and Juliet is definitely one of my favorite ballets, along with Don Q. It is a dream of mine to dance Juliet one day.

The connection that Steven and Sarah had was beautiful. They both portrayed the characters so well, it felt like I was actually there in the story with them. One of my favorite moments in the ballet is when Romeo and Juliet connect eyes for the first time. The music is just perfect for the moment. Here is a clip of Steven McRae and Miyako Yoshida in this moment. It happens around 50 seconds.

Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet was first performed in 1965 at the Covet Garden. The first dancers to perform the lead roles were Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn. I really fell in love with MacMillan's choreography. It flows so nicely and has a great connection to the music. It is really stunning to watch.

Prokofiev's music is just brilliant. I do not think I could ever get tired of listening to his pieces. One of my favorites is the Dance of The Knights from Romeo and Juliet. I have been listening to this music over and over for the past few days along with watching many videos of Romeo and Juliet. Also, me and my friends have been watching a lot of Royal Ballet in general!

For me artistry is what really makes watching a ballet so enjoyable. Sure, if they can do multiple pirouettes, or have crazy extensions, or even have great technique that's something to see for sure but if you don't feel something while watching them perform, especially something like Romeo and Juliet, then it is not the same. You could see the passion in Sarah's eyes. There is one moment in the second act of the ballet when Juliet goes to sit on her bed and think. She is sitting on her bed just staring at the audience. Sarah portrays the blankness but you can also just feel her thinking about what to do next with her life. I really loved that moment.

Photo Credit and copyright Dave Morgan / Royal Ballet

I could watch them perform this ballet over and over again! I guess you could say I am officially obsessed with Romeo and Juliet! Ahhh! =D

Here is a video to watch some of the rehearsals of the ballet with Sarah Lamb, Ryoichi Hirano, Alexander Campbell. It is interesting to hear about the process of getting into character.