Commentary

“Romeo and Juliet” seems to be the most popular story in Southern California this season. Both of San Diego’s major ballet companies, plus two regional SoCal opera companies, performed a version of this famous romance. I had the pleasure of seeing all of these productions, at least partially. The final of these was from City Ballet of San Diego, which was performed on May 6-7 in North San Diego County, at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. This was the last show of the company’s 30th Anniversary season.

There are a few different operas based on this story, but there is only one main ballet. Although considered part of the classical repertoire, it is a more modern ballet, with a score by 20th-century ballet composer Sergei Prokofiev instead of his 19th-century Russian predecessor, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The score was originally composed in 1935 and first performed in Czechoslovakia in 1938.

Although the music became popular in Western Europe and the United States before the ballet was even performed, the ballet itself would find fame in the United Kingdom a few decades later. In 1965, Sir Kenneth MacMillan re-choreographed it famously for the Royal Ballet, establishing the most standard version of the ballet as well as the legendary partnership between aging ballerina Margot Fonteyn and Russian defector Rudolf Nureyev. The second most noteworthy choreographic setting of this work was written by John Neumeier in 1971.

This Setting

Ballet is different from other categories of classical music as well as stage dramas in its lack of consistency. Since choreography is neither as easily nor as consistently documented as music, lyrics, or dialogue, every ballet production seems a little different. Many ballet companies feature resident choreographers, and most directors dabble in choreography. City Ballet of San Diego is no exception, since it has two resident choreographers, Elizabeth Rowe-Wistrich and Geoffrey Gonzalez. Most of the choreography for this production was by Mrs. Wistrich, while Mr. Gonzalez staged the dueling sequences. City Ballet’s productions are accompanied live by their own City Ballet Orchestra, which is conducted by music director John Nettles. The original score is extensive, since the ballet has four acts, so many productions take cuts. City Ballet used most of the music, so the production was three hours long, including two intermissions.

The ballet’s story sticks very close to William Shakespeare’s play, so there’s no need for me to explain it to you. The star-crossed lovers of Old Verona are represented very traditionally by dance, pantomime, and dramatic music. In recent years, many ballet companies have opted to make productions very minimalistic, in complete contrast to the opulent scenery and costumes which used to be the standard. I was delighted to see how traditional and beautiful this production was.

The costumes and scenery were on loan from Arizona Ballet, where director Stephen Wistrich and choreographer Geoffrey Gonzalez worked for years. The scenery and costumes were beautiful and detailed, evoking the Renaissance with enough grace and simplicity to allow freedom of movement. Most of the principal characters were double cast, so the casts of both shows were very different. The rest of the cast was so large that the company had to hire several freelance dancers to supplement the company’s regular members. As a result, there was a lot of talent from all over the country and world in this show!

My Thoughts

Since my sister is a professional ballerina, I have very high standards for ballet. In fact, my standards are so high that almost no one can live up to them. In general, I found this ballet very enjoyable. The story was very clear, and the action was driven by emotions. Marketplace scenes are often skippable parts of this ballet, but they were my favorite parts of the show. All the corps de ballet dancers were very specific with their actions, creating characters and interactions whenever they were onstage. I often found myself watching background dancers because their characters were so real. I also appreciated that the ensemble’s dancing featured a lot of partnering, which is seen too rarely because of the scarcity of male dancers. The dueling sequences were intense, highlighted by the use of real metal swords! The loud clanging was a striking rhythmic accent during the tense fight scenes, which were well coordinated.

Since ballet is a very physical art form, choreographers often are tempted to make the movements indecently suggestive or sensual, especially in pas de deux (ballet partnering). The temptation is particularly great in “Romeo and Juliet,” since it is a more modern ballet which has always utilized more daring motions. The only questionable material involved three town harlots, whose Gypsy-like costumes and flirtatious movements were a little suggestive. Their interactions with Mercutio and Benvolio, Romeo’s two friends, were excessive. The two friends also executed some suggestive hip movements in the ballroom scene, but Romeo and Juliet were very wholesome in contrast.

Thankfully, City Ballet’s production utilized great restraint in the pas de deux, emphasizing the romance between the lead couple instead of exploiting their physical attraction. Although the bedroom pas de deux began with the newlyweds sleeping on a large bed together, there were no indecent movements; they quickly got up and started dancing. Refreshingly, Romeo was wearing his shirt in this scene, when he is often shirtless.

Live Performance

The classical performing arts scene in Southern California is bustling. Unlike in New York City, which is very centralized, SoCal artists are spread out across hundreds of miles from Santa Barbara down to San Diego. While the area’s opera region is dominated by Los Angeles Opera, one of the major companies in the world, there is no ballet equivalent in terms of prominence. There are, however, several regional companies of varying size and history, which are full of talented artists.

If you’re a ballet lover, why not explore the local companies? Our state has a lot of worthwhile dance performances to offer, with much more affordable tickets than the nation’s major companies. City Ballet of San Diego is one example of a Southern California ballet company which presents several entertaining productions each year. Since the movie theater isn’t offering much uplifting content these days, we can defund Hollywood’s toxic agenda by using our dollars to support hardworking local artists instead.