DANCE PREVIEW
Atlanta Ballet reprises Jean-Christophe Maillot’s “Roméo et Juliette.”
Feb. 6-14
8 p.m. Feb. 6, 7, 12, 13 & 14; 2 p.m. Feb. 7 & 8. $23-$124. Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta. 1-800-982-2787, www.atlantaballet.com.
There’s a sweep to Jean-Christophe Maillot’s “Roméo et Juliette,” an off-kilter force that sends the ballet ensemble pouring from the wings, streaming across the stage to the forceful gravitas of Sergei Prokofiev’s “Dance of the Knights.”
Whether you missed the production last year or saw it, “Roméo et Juliette” is worth another look — and here are a few reasons why:
A perfect pairing
It’s not just the chemistry between leading dancers Alessa Rogers and Christian Clark; “Roméo et Juliette” is so right for Atlanta Ballet. It’s a narrative work that’s both classical and contemporary — historically grounded but fresh and spontaneous. Its plot line is taut, its web of characters so densely woven that a meaningful look, turn or gesture propels the story on almost every beat.
Shakespeare
Maillot pares down the tale of star-crossed lovers to essences everyone can relate to — the extreme emotions of adolescence. Characters are pulled between feelings of fear and pride, abandon and aggression, passion and propriety, showing that mischief can be deadly and good intentions can turn fatal.
Jean-Christophe Maillot invents a dance language where expansive classical lines meet sculptural shapes of modern dance and where stylized, theatrical movements mix with naturalistic expression. Every beat in Prokofiev's score is precisely choreographed; every action and reaction is crystal clear so that emotions that drive characters are real.
Visuals
Ernest Pignon-Ernest’s stunning minimalist set is stripped of artifice and removed from a specific place and time. A suspended ramp and moving panels change under shifting light — a reminder that the passion of first love is ephemeral, fragile and volatile.
Characters
Circumstance, brought on by characters’ conflicting desires, turns teenage romance into poetic tragedy.
Frere Laurent, flanked by two acolytes, is both narrator and player. Realizing the lovers died because of his well-intended deeds, the story runs like a memory he can’t stop from replaying in his mind.
Juliette is assertive, mature and ready for womanhood. Having found Roméo, she is committed to love, no matter the cost. Her Roméo is good-hearted but impulsive — subject to his passions, both in love and revenge.
Tybalt is hot-headed nephew of Lady Capulet and cousin to Juliette. No matter how hard he tries to uphold his family’s honor, he is frustrated — first, by Roméo’s interest in Rosaline; then, by the young Montague’s infatuation with Juliette at the moment of her betrothal to Paris. A taunting Mercutio falls victim to Tybalt’s rage.
Lady Capulet represents both mother and father to Juliette. Alternately loving and authoritative, this matriarch tries to hold her family together as it tears itself apart.
McFall said Atlanta Ballet’s relationship with the Maillot’s company, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, is off to a good start and is part of a long-term plan to bring distinctive international repertory to Atlanta. “You don’t have to go to New York or Paris or London,” said McFall. “We’re bringing it here.”
