Later this month, Les Grands Ballets presents new Romeo & Juliet choreographed by its Artistic Director Ivan Cavallari.
This world premiere set to the iconic score of Sergei Prokofiev features 45 dancers accompanied by the company’s orchestra.
Cavallari centers his neoclassical retelling of this love story on the characters Romeo and Juliet, drawing on Italian literature from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. Cavallari decorates the Shakespearian story and gives himself a few liberties with this mythical story. The resulting setting is equally uncluttered and full of references to ignite the spectators’ imagination, transporting them to a place beyond time where our eternal lovers’ plight plays out across the eras.
Cavallari preserves the tragic and humorous dimensions of Shakespeare’s play while reappropriating the dramaturgy in his own way: he introduces a new character, Countess Guelfi, and develops the storylines of the parents with rich intrigue and dangerous liaisons.
All the ingredients of a tragedy are present: innocence, passion, games of power. His work is a portrait of the disorder of the world and the fragility of existence, mirroring Shakespearean themes of death and the quest for redemption.
Romeo & Juliet Youth Project
In addition to the company’s run of performances at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier from March 23-25, Les Grands Ballets will also present three educational matinée performances based on Romeo & Juliet to serve children from underprivileged schools and children’s foundations.
These exclusive performances are to be held March 18 and 19,
2022 at Les Grands Ballets’ Studio-Théâtre (Édifice Wilder) and on March 25, 2022 at Salle WilfridPelletier.
They will charm and delight close to 2,500 young people and accompanying adults, in collaboration with Une école montréalaise pour tous, a program of the Québec Ministry of Education, and the Politique de l’enfant de la Ville de Montréal, as part of its Diversity and Social
Inclusion Fund.
With a little help from the event’s host, guests will be able to immerse themselves in this impossible love story. Cavallari will be on hand with the company’s dancers to speak about Les Grands Ballets, the life of a dancer, and the excerpts performed.
Featured Photo of Dancers Hamilton Nieh and Kiara DeNae Felder. Photo by Sasha Onyshchenko.
