Hong Kong Ballet Romeo + Juliet Review
January 13, 2023 | New York City Center – New York, NY, USA
Why are we so captivated by Shakespeare’s ill-fated story of Romeo and Juliet? The story all great romances are measured against, a story re-told again and again. Whether through classic portrayals or revamped versions like Westside Story and Romeo + Juliet (featuring Claire Danes, Leonardo DiCaprio, and an epic song by Radiohead), the story is everlasting.
I think the answer may lie in the precious seconds between Romeo’s suicide/death and Juliet’s awakening.
In Jerome Robbins’, Steven Spielberg’s, and Baz Luhrmann’s movie versions, Romeo is cruelly “gifted” one last view of his sweet Juliet alive and well. And it hurts. A lot. In most balletic versions, Romeo kills himself and mere seconds later we see Juliet’s fingers wiggle. This also hurts. The pain of love is universal. Which is perhaps why it works so well in its reimaginations. The story is always understood.
In Hong Kong Ballet’s rendition, the characters are placed in 1960s Hong Kong – a period known for a booming economy while still under British rule.
Hong Kong Ballet Romeo + Juliet Review
It’s clear the design team behind this production was ripe with creative inspiration. Designed by Ricky Chan, the magnanimous sets, overwhelming in a wonderful way, were bold and breathtaking – each scene more striking than the last. Neon street signs, bamboo scaffolding, rolling staircases that formed balconies and bridges, 1960s billboards and movie posters, it transports the viewer immediately to the vibrancy of Hong Kong.
Costumes by Mandy Tam were a mixture of whimsically mod Go-Go outfits, traditional Chinese silhouettes, and suave evening wear all balanced by electric color combinations. The ballroom scene is rich and luscious, the dancers draped in red and black. Juliet and Romeo don pastels, evoking sweet innocence.
The entire production is a wondrous spectacle.
Unfortunately, the canned score on Friday night (tough to compare to a live orchestration of Prokofiev on any day) had a few moments of sudden quietness and clunky transitions.
Choreographically, Septime Webre (Artistic Director of HKB) stays in a comfortable zone. The steps are balletic with slight alterations: a side tilt here, a roll on the floor there. Not as inspired as the sets but also not without moments of beauty.
Romeo’s Sifu (a multi-skilled teacher), portrayed by Yonen Takano, delivered angst-fueled solos with modern movement that I yearned to see more of instead of being used as a transitional device between scenes. Webre did successfully provide more dancing for the corps de ballet than other versions I have seen although mostly defaulted to large groups of synchronized partnering.
A standout scene, where the group partnering worked, took place in a Mahjong parlor. Dancers broke into quartets and leaped on and off the tables, making a kaleidoscope-like pattern across the stage.
Chinese culture was also infused throughout the show in the dumpling seller on the street, the martial arts choreography which replaced the typical sword fights, and a traditional funeral procession that marched through the town. Most notable, and choreographically intriguing, was the short red ribbon dance at Romeo and Juliet’s wedding ceremony wherein the couple was joined at the hands by a red ribbon as they swirled around each other in a tender pas de deux.
Portraying Romeo and Juliet on Friday night were Alejandro Virelles, joining as a guest artist from Staatsballett Berlin, and Ye Feifei.
Virelles balanced out the passionately impulsive teenager with sweetness. Feifei’s Juliet is less playful than I’ve seen and instead takes on a naive approach to the character; polite and shy around her betrothed, the preppy Mr. Parker, until she sets eyes on Romeo. Virelles displayed smooth turns and a floaty manège while Feifei showed off long lines and supple back bends.
The duo tackled the challenging pas de deux work while still debuting their star-crossed emotions. However the development of character was lacking. The balcony and bedroom pas de deux need to be delivered very differently, the former is curiosity and butterflies while the latter should be complete abandon. Without that opposition, the partnering becomes flat and the fate of the relationship unjustified.
Little Mak (aka Mercutio) and Benny (aka Benvolio) are responsible for the comedic breaks. Jonathan Spigner plays a loyal and rambunctious Benny while Leung Chunlong as Little Mak brought heartbreak and cheap digs at Tai Po (aka, Tybalt, although in this version he is very clearly Juliet’s mother’s lover and not Juliet’s cousin).
Chunlong displayed lovely technique and bravura as the class clown but his death scene was superb. He swayed back and forth between acting cheerful for his friends and seeing death standing before him. Chunlong seemed to look beyond the empty blackness of the audience, seeing Little Mak’s fate leaning over him.
Garry Corpuz as Tai Po is domineering and meddling, an instigator of trouble. After his death at Romeo’s hands it is Juliet’s mother (Wang Qingxin) who grieves. In a short solo, Qingxin displays agony and despair through suspended balances and expansive lines that ate up the stage with her grief.
“Hong Kong is a city about fusion”, said Webre at the start of the show.
His Romeo + Juliet fuses the classic story with a fresh setting, inviting new traditions to the typically Eurocentric tale. While not a home run from every angle (I would love to see it again with a live orchestra) this version still demonstrates the aching perpetuity of a classic tale, the universal truth and understanding of heartbreak.
Featured Photo for this Hong Kong Ballet Romeo + Juliet review of Garry Corpuz and Wang Qingxin. Photo by Christopher Duggan.
