Juliet romeo review mats ek s vivid spin on shakespeare 4 5 stars 4 out of 5 stars.
Mats ek romeo and juliet cast.
A young man emerges from a dark opening situated in the middle of the stage quickly climbs over a tall metal wall or is it a barricade that dominates the space and disappears behind it.
In the case of mats ek s juliet romeo which royal swedish ballet presented last week at sadler s wells the switched up nam.
Mats ek has always taken a radical line with the ballet repertory and it s clear from the title that his new juliet and romeo comes with maverick intent.
What s in a name.
Juliet and romeo is swedish choreographer mats ek s version of the ill fated lovers tale told in a way that honors its renaissance source while tying it directly to today s world.
Sadler s wells mats ek evokes the divided world in which the star crossed lovers are raised in his.
Mats ek s ballet juliet and romeo opens with a startling sight.
After giselle sleeping beauty and carmen mats ek put together yet another groundbreaking production with his 2013 stockholm opera version of shakespeare s mythic drama part of the opera company s celebrations of its 240th anniversary the swedish choreographer interprets romeo and juliet as less the story of a rivalry between two warring families the montagues and the capulets and.
But in contrast say with his.
Never a company to be mired in tradition rsb commissioned prolific and provocative contemporary choreographer mats ek to create a new version of romeo and juliet true to form ek turned the ballet on its head reversing the title using new music and creating a world of simmering brutality.
To say this is a new work is an understatement.
A story of more woe than this of juliet and her romeo and this is juliet julia s ballet.
Mats ek s juliet and romeo which had its north american premiere at the kennedy center left me bereft not because i was moved by the deaths of the young lovers but because i wasn t moved at all.
Ek has stripped away the patina of age from the well loved story to introduce an astonishing refreshing almost revolutionary concept.
Kennedy center for the performing arts opera house washington dc june 1 2016.
He has returned to the source for his inspiration.