New Royal Ballet Romeo and Juliet Film

[Lynette H]

This was filmed last summer in Budapest, and will be shown in UK cinemas this autumn. It might be shown on tv at Christmas by the BBC. 

Hayward and Bracewell are the leads. 

This is the site for the film - there is a trailer available. 

 

https://www.romeoandjulietballetfilm.com/

 

 

 

[A1EV3]

It looks very interesting and the costumes are lovely. I'm curious as to how it will look, since it is being filmed like a movie. I just hope that the dancing is not obscured, as happens all too often. I also hope that there will be a chance to see it outside of the UK as well. I would love to see it in Canada, especially since I've heard lovely things about Francesca Hayward's Juliet.

[Ashton Fan]

The film was given a limited cinema release in the UK and was shown on BBC 2 at Christmas. It is fine if you accept that it is not a film of MacMillan's ballet but an attempt to make a film which emphasises the ballet's narrative and gives priority to its choreographed action over its dance elements although it retains most of the significant set pieces. Its visual elements include an obtrusive bush which someone has identified as a rosemary bush and a fluttering curtain which gets in the way in some of the scenes set in Juliet's bedroom. Perhaps it was intended to be artistic. The film shows the company in a state of transition in 2019 as a generation of young dancers takes over from those who became its leading performers during Mason's directorship. In future years it may even come to be seen as an historic record of that change because of the minor roles in which some named dancers appear. Both Anna Rose O'Sullivan and Mayara Magri appear as Juliet's friends and given the way in which their careers are progressing it seems highly unlikely that they will dance those roles again and the same may also be true of both Tierney Heap and Beatrix Stix-Brunell who appear alongside Laura Morera as the ballet's trio of whores.

There was some concern when it was announced that Matthew Ball, who is in his mid-twenties, was to dance Tybalt when the ballet was last revived because the role is generally seen as marking the transition from active dancer to character roles. The same is true when it comes to the role of Juliet's Nurse so there were concerns that Romany Pajdak might also be on her way out as an active dancer when she made her debut in the role during the same  run. The film's pluses include not only the performances of Hayward and Bracewell but  the opportunity to see Sambe dancing Mercutio and leading the Mandolin dance and the editing of much of the choreographic padding for the scenes set in the market square. Although this means that you don't get to see much of Morera or her fellow whores it spares the audience most of the townspeople's tiresome repetitive choreography which cannot be cut in theatrical performances if you want Romeo to survive until the tomb scene.

If you are curious about the state of the Royal Ballet Company and want to see something of the dancers of whom you may have heard then the film will give you an opportunity to do so. The film was not made by the ROH and it is not clear whether there are any plans for a DVD to be issued although there would almost certainly be a market for one.

Edited January 13, 2020 by Ashton Fan