An introduction to Romeo and Juliet (The Royal Ballet)

An exploration of what makes Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet so special. Book tickets for Romeo and Juliet: www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-ev...
Kenneth MacMillan poignant setting of Sergey Prokofiev’s classic score draws out the emotional and psychological intensity of the tale. Romeo and Juliet contains three passionate pas de deux: the lovers’ first meeting, the famous balcony scene and the devastating final tragedy, in which Romeo dances desperately with the lifeless Juliet. The story is set against a wonderful evocation of 16th-century Verona, and includes a bustling marketplace that erupts into a violent sword fight, and a lavish ball held in an elegant mansion.
MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet first arrived at Covent Garden in 1965. Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn took the title roles on the opening night - MacMillan had originally created the work on Lynn Seymour and Christopher Gable. Nevertheless, Fonteyn and Nureyev’s performance had a rapturous reception, with 43 curtain calls and almost forty minutes of applause. The ballet has been at the heart of the Company’s repertory ever since, amassing more than four hundred performances. This classic production has been toured around the world and in 2011 was adapted for arena-scale performances at the O2 Arena.

[@RoyalBalletAndOpera]

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[@karenkaren3189]

I know Steven is very happily married, as is Sarah, but the way they look at each other and kiss each other.....oh my !

[@btsarmyforever3816]

It's method acting.

[@kayleecromling7132]

gary with the spice girls shirt, that's what's up!

[@MissSunflower242]

I know right. haha totes legit!

[@margaretcheung292]

Oh my gosh Sarah and Steven!!! They're seriously the most magical pair in Royal Opera House. I love them

[@eurekamreum5458]

They are, I like their partnering even more than Vadim/Marianela and that's saying A LOT.

[@jamie1411]

sarah and steven have really good chemistry. they’re both married to different people, but they also have really good chemistry

[@TheStar642]

I would like to live in England just to watch this! It's incredible!

[@Sochilinda]

that kiss at the end!

[@barbaralemere5183]

I hope we get to see these performances on DVD or You Tube. Sarah and Yasmin are both wonderful Juliets and Steven and will be great Romeo's. Alexander, Tristan, and Gary as Mercutio, Benvolio and Tybalt will make it rock and roll in the sword fights. MacMillan's production is raputurous and exciting and timeless.

[@gabychavez253]

0:37 Sarah looks so pretty

[@eurekamreum5458]

She's gorgeous and so incredibly talented

[@xXxAmyPalmerxXx]

cant take Tybalt seriously while wearing a spice girls t-shirt

[@jilliansmaniotto2326]

that’s the absolute legend gary avis. put some respect on his name 😂

[@angelgirl8533]

Follow your parents or die for the sake of love. Most would choose the first, in real life. That's why this story is so special. But it would be disturbing too if people would actually follow this dramatic lead.

[@Siricerasi]

I already have Romeo and Juliet with Lauren cuthbertson but I'd love a version with Sarah lamb. I'm going to see Romeo and Juliet tonight at the cinema

[@camilito104]

Debo decirlo, STEVEN McRAE TE AMO

[@ashareeoo]

God! This production looks remarkable!

[@DerekWilliamsMusic]

Stunning!

[@barbarapalmer5890]

I love ❤️ Ballet. It always helps me calm down and I love the music 🎶 and the dancers

[@woyeshinibaba]

this Juliet looks so beautiful!

[@cjohnson7947]

Wow so now I finally know which ballet I do my battements to...

[@luciavitale5903]

Thank You!

[@gaynormainwaring1853]

Would love to see this live in Covent Garden.

[@claudiavalente7230]

I could die with this awsome music

[@elizabethzafracamara9045]

I love you when sarah lamb dancing 😍😍😍😘😘

[@cheryldodd-marko9787]

BRAVO 🕊🇺🇲💕

[@katy19999]

Alexander Campbell I love you

[@noblesetsentimentales]

Uh, Ashton had already choreographed his own version of Romeo and Juliet a decade earlier, and without ever having seen the Lavrosky and Cranko productions to which the MacMillan owes so much. It certainly wasn't just fairies before MacMillan came along.

[@MissMangabee]

I'm so torn because this looks so beautiful and the story and music it all seems to be such a lovely ballet, I would love to see it! But...Romeo and Juliet is honestly the worst love story I've ever read and so yeah, I'm torn. D:

[@pinkwings8036]

Eh, Shakespeare was made to be watched, not read. Romeo and Juliet really flows best on a stage.

[@annarose932]

Kirabites Watch Doug Walker's/ the Nostalgia Critic's short commentary video of Romeo and Juliet on KZbin. It gives a good point towards tge end about the deeper meaning in a very in sightful way.

[@vanessanicole04]

The actual story of Romeo and Juliet is awful and it's sad to see people make it out to be a love you want to have but the ballet manipulation of it is much more beautiful

[@Ebathora]

Romeo and Juliet is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays and I think it's because I always thought of it less as a love story, and more as a full on tragic dark comedy. When I look at it from that perspective, not only is it hilarious (Mercutio's one liners! Nurse's antics!) but it's also so interesting to see how everything could go so wrong when it could have so easily gone so right.

[@sisi2654]

I've seen the play and parts of the ballet, and I feel it translates so much better as a ballet. The music and the dance truly shows their emotions so much better

[@missymonkey]

Hello ROH. I've listened from the library literally 14 recordings of this R&J soundtrack and searched extensively online, but the music to the dance done at 2:25 wasn't on any of them, and I've noticed not in all productions of the show. (I've watched all versions from the library) Is this a piece added by Macmillan? what is the track called?

[@RoyalBalletAndOpera]

Hi Missy, thanks for your query. This passage is from the original ballet but MacMillan transplants it from its usual place in Act III to the ballroom scene in Act I scene 4. It's no.48 in the original score and is usually titled 'Morning Serenade' or 'Aubade'. The version in the video is a piano arrangement of the original score, so a recording will sound different in terms of orchestration.

[@Aaron-xq6hv]

@@RoyalBalletAndOpera I may be six years late here, but thank you for this answer. We were trying to figure this out with the ABT version but no one was completely sure what it was.

[@hopekitten]

I thought that Francesca Hayward played Juliet- was that in another production? Or was this just highlighting one of the many people to play Juliet?

[@RoyalBalletAndOpera]

This video was originally created as an interval film in the cinema broadcast of Romeo and Juliet on 22 September 2015, which starred Sarah Lamb and Steven McRae who rehearse here. There were several other casts in that revival: the other dancers who played Juliet were Lauren Cuthbertson, Francesca Hayward, Roberta Marquez, Yasmine Naghdi, Marianela Nuñez, Natalia Osipova and Iana Salenko.

[@hopekitten]

Thank you! I was rather confused. :)

[@andreabweek]

YES STEVEN MCRAE AND SARAH LAMB

[@sylvainb2783]

There was an scene on youtube , dance of the knight one , and the romeo was a black actor. And now the video have been claimed , and i just cant find the damn orginal , help ?

[@annaskywalker9328]

I know that carlos acosta played the first black romeo so you probably mean him

[@annaskywalker9328]

Btw his Don Quichote performence is incredible too

[@augustalavenderblue7353]

Wait is Sarah Lamb American???

[@monochrome1219]

Yes, she is. I noticed by the way she talk.

[@cherylhowe1541]

Yes, she's from Boston.

[@icarrus4u]

Tristan Dyer is gorgeous!

[@dmmchugh3714]

Steven McRae- greatest male dancers EVER !

[@hayleighbishop-sweeney128]

oh HELLOO Trystan Dyer 😻

[@lgbtaresins]

Sarah is beautiful

[@shannonmalayajones7649]

English literatures of this century merge with technologies phonies audios and visual begins with new ideas with feelings

[@mirosawjurkiewicz5167]

I didn't know that kissing in the ballet is also rehearsed.

[@livivian9617]

Yex

[@user-vo3wl4mm3z]

しゆてきにや😍

[@barbarahl8319]

The dancer that plays Romeo does not look like a Romeo to me

[@jackharvey6191]

No offense but "juliet was one of the first feminists" is a not a great notion

[@Roheryn100]

Yeah, what was she thinking, rebelling against an arranged marriage ? SMH

[@YourMom-jd6jp]

Ikr

[@user-sh1zd8sj1v]

Like dancer gays

[@karlkarlos3545]

Yeah, who wouldn't enjoy 40 something Romeo and Juliet. Get some young blood, Royal Opera House.

[@eurekamreum5458]

C'mon, Sarah has the prettiest baby face in that company.

[@bonjouratous1460]

envy maybe? Sarah and Steven the best ones

[@erod97]

Karl Karlos Wow.