How The Light Gets In

After a delicious dinner at Rickshaw Bar, I headed down the street to the see the National Ballet's remount of Romeo and Juliet. I saw this Ramatsky production when it debut in 2011. I enjoyed the mixture of realistic dance and semi-abstract set then, but I wasn't blown away. I thought the main pairing didn't seem to exude sufficient passion.

Tonight was different. The company has mounted it several times since then; this is one of their signature piece when they tour. Also, it was the "primo" pair tonight of Guillaume Côté as Romeo and Elena Lobsanova as Juliet. The latter has climbed the rank and was just promoted this season to principal dancer. Their passion felt genuine, and the chemistry palpable. Notably, Juliet's exuberance seemed natural and unfeigned, especially in several pas de deux where she launched herself without reservation at Côté.

They were surrounded by a great cast. The stand-out was Piotr Staczyk (Mercutio) who had both insouciance and comic timing. His death was both funny and tragic. Evan McKie made a menacing Tybalt as he was physically bigger than the other male dancers. But the cast had some sloppy coordination now and then. Notably, the sword fights seemed less visceral and dangerous than before. But these small quibbles aside, it was a great show.