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R & J: MacMillan v Cranko


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I have only been involved in the Cranko version. However, I 've seen the MacMillan version many times.

In my opinion, the Cranko version looks more like a play and less a dance, in comparison to MacMillan's version. The Cranko is all dance, but the choreography at all times lends itself to telling the story, where as MacMillan's has long passages of choreography which I think is much harder and is there just for sake of dancing.

Even the scenery in the MacMillan version makes me use my imagination more. It's less real and more suggestive. The Jurgen Rose sets and costumes for the Cranko version look like a theatrical representation of what the audience should be thinking they are seeing.

As a male dancer who performed in the Cranko version and danced in the pas de trois before the ball, I've noticed that though Cranko's steps are not easy and take skill and stamina, I was glad to be doing those steps because MacMillan's look much harder to me.

I will finish by saying that both are beautiful to me. I love the pas de deux in each version.

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Thanks for your reply, Glebb.

I've seen a publicity photo of the Australian Ballet for the Cranko version and Juliet is wearing a sexy burgundy (cocktail?) dress

http://www.australianballet.com.au/index.c...d=1&submenuid=1

So I thought that it has a more contemporary setting and possibly choreography. I'm not sure if this is just something that the Australian Ballet has done with regards to the costume as I've never heard of or seen Juliet in any other colour other than the virginal white.

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In the John Cranko/Jurgin Rose version, Juliet has several costumes. The one she wears in the wedding scene is blood red with ivory.

I didn't find the costume sexy. I only found it pretty and flattering for the ballerina wearing it.

I know for a fact that Cranko ballets have been getting redesigned in recent years. When I last saw Elizabeth Dalton who designed the original sets for 'The Taming of The Shrew', she showed me her designs for a new production of 'Onegin', she was making for a company other than Stuttgart.

I also have a rough sketch of her new design for the costumes of the 'Taming' carnival scene costumes for Stuttgart's new production.

:)

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Thank you for that comparison, Glebb. It's interesting that 20 years ago, the Cranko was the more performed version (not by many, but I think three or four companies besides Stuttgart did it) and now the MacMillan is much more performed.

The Cranko also has a few little dramatic touches that either strike one as touching or a bit too much -- for example, Romeo stroking Juliet's hair in bed, and then later doing the same in the crypt scene, seconds before dying.

Both were inspired by the Lavrovsky dramballet version, which put realistic detail above formal choreography. (I love the Lavrovsky version, even the cut-down one the Bolshoi showed here last year.)

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The Cranko version was in the POB's repertory in the early 1980s (I remember some really cute photos of Michael Denard as Romeo :) ), but now their "standard" version is Nureyev's, and Cranko's version isn't performed any longer. However, I believe it is in the repertory of the Ballet de Toulouse.

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Originally posted by attitude

I've never heard of or seen Juliet in any other colour other than the virginal white.

In Macmillan's version, the costume she wears for her first scene and the wedding scene is jade green, at least in the RB version.

Helgi Tomasson's version for SF Ballet, with costumes and sets by Worsaae, has her in peach, rust, and pink-to-white costumes as well as a white nightie for her final scene.

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