Romeo and Juliet Part 3 - MacMillan

I’ll be the first to admit that my qualifications for this project are, shall we say, dubious. Basically, I have a library card, an Amazon Prime subscription, and an interest in the subject. When it comes to critiquing ballet I’m way beyond my depth, so I’ll try not to make a fool of myself.

Ballet on screen is very different from ballet on stage, even though this is a filmed recording of a stage production. A few years ago, I went to Boston with my family and a number of my sisters to see the Boston Ballet Company production of Swan Lake. To do that, we had to order ballet tickets, order train tickets, and make plans for supper in the city. Before any of that, we had to decide that we were going to go to the ballet and that this was a valuable experience for us. My point is that we were invested in the theater experience before we even left home. We wanted to live this experience and we wanted it to move us in some way. What’s more, the performers on stage and in the orchestra pit were invested, too. At any point in the show, any one of the ballerinas could have said to themselves, “My toes hurt. I’m hungry. To hell with this, I’m going back to waitressing at Denny’s: the pay was better, and I’d get to wear comfortable shoes.” 

This production of Romeo and Juliet is probably as good a ballet as you’re going to find. Angel Corella is amazing as the crazy-in-love Romeo. Alessandra Ferri makes mind-bending moves look incredibly easy as Juliet. Michele Villanova as Mercutio has one of the best deaths of any Mercutio I’ve seen so far. Gianni Ghisleni is a great, villainous Tybalt. The score is a classic by Sergei Prokofiev.

Making it look easy is the most impressive aspect of ballet, as far as I’m concerned. I can’t imagine the amount of practice and dedication that goes in to ballet. As I say, I am far beyond my depth on this one. 

If you only have time to watch one version of Romeo and Juliet, you probably shouldn’t go for this one, but I would encourage you to put this on your list to watch. The power of ballet isn’t in its ability to tell a story (because if you don’t know the story already, you’ll be pretty lost), but in the way it conveys the emotions of a story. That power is why I currently rank this as my second-favorite Romeo and Juliet.

Here’s the overall ranking so far:

1. Romeo & Juliet. Dir. Joan Kemp-Welch. Perf. Christopher Neame, Ann Hasson, and Robin Nedwell. Thames Television, 1976. DVD, A&E Television Networks, 2005.
2. Romeo and Juliet. Chor. Kenneth MacMillan. Perf. Angel Corella, Alessandra Ferri, and Michele Villanova. Teatro Alla Scala, Milan, JAN 2000. DVD, Euroarts, 2002.
3. Shakespeare Series: Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Larry Sullivan. Perf. Alex Hyde-White, Blanche Baker, and Dan Hamilton. Shakespeare Video Society, 1982. Amazon.com, 15 AUG 2013.