19.12.2012
“Without Stopping for Breath”: Reaction to the Premiere
“A ballet where the heroes do not stop for breath”, wrote Izvestia, describing the premiere of Romeo and Juliet. And the series of premieres also flew past “without stopping for breath”. During the two years that Nacho Duato has headed the Mikhailovsky Theatre’s ballet company, his choreographic language has become second nature to the artists, a fact noted by practically all the critics.
“The Mikhailovsky Theatre’s ballet company, as the citizens of Verona, get by without ballet shoes or elaborate make-up. Their energetic movement is replete with the natural angularity of someone who disregards the rules, and moves in tune with their breathing”, wrote RBC Daily. The naturalness, lightness, and spontaneity of the performance also caught the eye of Novye Izvestia.
“The sensual bravura of the dance is tinged with an authentic Italian atmosphere, the spirit of the piazzas filled with the volatile peasantry, an aura of cavalier games where they egg each other on, of open sensuality and temperament... The movement implies rapid Italian speech and boisterous gesticulation.” Kommersant also paid tribute to the company, “which danced with a European quality: prim, light, and agile.” Izvestia followed a similar line of thought: “The company, to the credit of Duato’s teaching and the hard work of the dancers, maintains a delicate and natural register, in keeping with the concept. Not downtrodden or stiff, they simply exude pleasure for themselves and the public.”
Vedomosti described Romeo and Juliet as “revolutionary to the Russian stage”. According to the newspaper, “dance is the main, indeed the only, form of expression in Duato’s staging”, a sentiment which RBC Daily agreed with: “The dance, which contains acute lyrical moments, grotesque harlequin antics, heavy flirtation in the street, and sword fights, seems to stem from the depths of the crowd of townspeople. Duato has instilled his own intelligent recollections of southern European dance in the ballet, from the Greek Sirtaki circle dance and the Sicilian Tarantella to the dance en masse with handkerchiefs, reminiscent of the Basque Country.”
Critics paid particular attention to those in the lead roles, and especially Natalia Osipova as Juliet. Vedomosti believed that “the world turned upside down when Natalia Osipova appeared as Juliet”: “She lights up the stage with her springboard leaps and her energy, which is enough to shake the metre-thick walls.”
“The excellent Juliet (Natalia Osipova) not only evokes an outburst of emotions in her on-stage lover, but also in the entire auditorium”, Kommersant wrote. “This breathtaking ballerina has done the unthinkable — she has retained the tiniest movement details from the choreography, whilst imbuing the plot with Shakespeare’s tragic power... The ultra-emotional ballerina under Nacho Duato becomes an ultra-fine psychologism — her every glance, gesture, or reaction (not to mention the dancing) is so definite, piercingly accurate, and natural, that the spectator, forgetting all about the mastery of the actress, is thrown head-first into Juliet’s life.”
“The Mikhailovsky Theatre’s ballet company, as the citizens of Verona, get by without ballet shoes or elaborate make-up. Their energetic movement is replete with the natural angularity of someone who disregards the rules, and moves in tune with their breathing”, wrote RBC Daily. The naturalness, lightness, and spontaneity of the performance also caught the eye of Novye Izvestia.
“The sensual bravura of the dance is tinged with an authentic Italian atmosphere, the spirit of the piazzas filled with the volatile peasantry, an aura of cavalier games where they egg each other on, of open sensuality and temperament... The movement implies rapid Italian speech and boisterous gesticulation.” Kommersant also paid tribute to the company, “which danced with a European quality: prim, light, and agile.” Izvestia followed a similar line of thought: “The company, to the credit of Duato’s teaching and the hard work of the dancers, maintains a delicate and natural register, in keeping with the concept. Not downtrodden or stiff, they simply exude pleasure for themselves and the public.”
Vedomosti described Romeo and Juliet as “revolutionary to the Russian stage”. According to the newspaper, “dance is the main, indeed the only, form of expression in Duato’s staging”, a sentiment which RBC Daily agreed with: “The dance, which contains acute lyrical moments, grotesque harlequin antics, heavy flirtation in the street, and sword fights, seems to stem from the depths of the crowd of townspeople. Duato has instilled his own intelligent recollections of southern European dance in the ballet, from the Greek Sirtaki circle dance and the Sicilian Tarantella to the dance en masse with handkerchiefs, reminiscent of the Basque Country.”
Critics paid particular attention to those in the lead roles, and especially Natalia Osipova as Juliet. Vedomosti believed that “the world turned upside down when Natalia Osipova appeared as Juliet”: “She lights up the stage with her springboard leaps and her energy, which is enough to shake the metre-thick walls.”
“The excellent Juliet (Natalia Osipova) not only evokes an outburst of emotions in her on-stage lover, but also in the entire auditorium”, Kommersant wrote. “This breathtaking ballerina has done the unthinkable — she has retained the tiniest movement details from the choreography, whilst imbuing the plot with Shakespeare’s tragic power... The ultra-emotional ballerina under Nacho Duato becomes an ultra-fine psychologism — her every glance, gesture, or reaction (not to mention the dancing) is so definite, piercingly accurate, and natural, that the spectator, forgetting all about the mastery of the actress, is thrown head-first into Juliet’s life.”
