Francesca Tay
Exactly 50 years after the release of 10-Oscars-winning West Side Story, the big screen re-imagining of the Bard’s immortal Romeo and Juliet comes the Singapore Dance Theatre interpretation of tragically thwarted teenage love.
Although Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliethas one too many variations, thanks to the exuberance and fluidity of the well-put together dance troupe and the choreography of the great, late Goh Choo San, this is one of many stellar oeuvres that was inspired by William Shakespeare’s tragedy of “two star-cross’d lovers”.
Choosing not to go down the gangs and guns route of Leonardo DiCaprio’s Romeo + Juliet, we return to a classical ballet take of that evokes two words in my mind: Hauntingly beautiful.
The opening night of the ballet, performed at the Esplanade Theatre on the 24th March begins with the marketplace coming to life on a 15th Century morning, in the city of Verona. As you enjoy the extravagant and realistic cyclorama, complete with lavish costumes comprising of men in white tights and gold-lined red velvet capes, the light-heartedness soon turns sour. A confrontation between 2 feuding families- the Capulets and the Montagues, sets the tragedy on its way, with the SDT dancers of each family executing perfect pirouettes.
The scene ends off with the Prince of Verona, Escalus (Charles Harbottle), declaring that the feud must end. The house was ecstatic with the sudden burst of well-executed dance moves, and by the end of the scene; the audience was clearly impressed and treated the troupe with a lingering applause.
The spotlight turns to Juliet Capulet (Rosa Park), the female protagonist, as Lady Capulet (Elynn Chew) proposes a marriage between her daughter and County Paris (William Wu Mi), the rich kinsman of Escalus.
The milieu of the ballet escalates as Romeo Montague (Chen Peng) and Juliet express what they feel as ‘love at first sight’, after coming face-to-face during the Ball.
Do look out for Fate (Iora Araya) as she conjures her magic between the lovers with elegance and poise, sealing the emotions between these 2 sadly, ill-fated lovers.
Not to forget, Sergei Prokofiev’s phenomenal score was also alluring and timeless. In comparison to Tchaikovsky’s pieces, it had a quirky but still elegant tune to it rather than simple mellow.
As eye-catching and dazzling the costumes, a remarkably choreographed piece in the Ball scene showcased flashes of dance brilliances that could be interpreted as Romeo’s seduction of Juliet as she moved nimbly and in a coy manner.
SDT Artistic Director Janek Schergen’s selection of costume colours in the entire ballet also proved to be witty as Romeo’s lightly-coloured doublet and Juliet’s white gown in comparison to the heavily-coloured gowns and shirts of the other characters set them immediately apart and symbolised the purity and simplicity of their love in the ballet.
The tension then heightens as Tybalt (Zhao Jun), Juliet’s hot-tempered cousin and, coincidentally, Romeo’s rival, flies into rage when he recognised a masked Romeo seducing Juliet, leading the audience into the next few acts.
As with the play, Romeo and Juliet steal magical moments together in the ballet without the consent of their respective families. And with the help of Juliet’s Nurse (Jessica Larbig) and Friar Laurence (Yann Ek), they make a binding commitment to each other.
The ballet reaches its climax when murder is played out and potions are exchanged in hopes for peace between the feuding families. The ending of the production took off with the classic ending, as the ageless storyline of Romeo and Julietplayed on misunderstandings, magic and menace, and not to forget, death being the deus ex machina of the reconcilement of the Capulets and the Montagues.
Even with a condensed 3 acts and 14 scenes, which is three-fifth of the original screenplay, the Singapore Dance Theatresuccessfully rendered the 4 main themes and motifs in the play: Love, Fate, Duality as well as Time through dance moves, rather than the lines many a literature student can recite in his sleep.
Singapore-born Goh Choo San’s ballets are deservedly in the repertoires of many dance companies, and Romeo and Juliet, despite being so removed from us in time and space speaks convincingly of the power of true love, bringing hope and rekindling love in the audience throughout the entire 135 minutes production. It also gives couples who are theatregoers a mnemonic to be content with the love they have found.
“Never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”
Romeo and Juliet is showing at Esplanade Theatre from 24-27 Mar 2011. Tickets are available atSisticfrom $50.
All photos are courtesy of Tan Ngiap Heng, Sirius Art Pte Ltd.