Sweet sorrow from the RWB

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This article was published 13/02/2019 (2100 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

What dark Valentine has the Royal Winnipeg Ballet presented to its die-hard dance fans this week as it begins to wind down its yearlong celebration of feisty female protagonists?

Why, it is Dutch choreographer Rudi van Dantzig’s mesmerizing Romeo and Juliet, inspired by Shakespeare’s archetypal tale of the star-crossed lovers, which still enthralls the senses since the RWB’s Canadian première in 1981.

The full-length story ballet has retained its lustre over the years, with its briskly paced choreography making the 125-minute production whizz past faster than you can say Romeo. Sumptuous costumes and a multi-dimensional, tiered set evoking 15th-century Verona, Italy, designed by Toer Van Schayk with dramatic lighting by Nicholas Cernovitch create an effective canvas for the feuding Montagues and Capulets, including plenty of clashing swordplay that boils over like erupting lava.

Many Juliets have come and gone since the RWB’s fabled prima ballerina Evelyn Hart first performed the role, setting a high bar for all others to follow.

In this case, second soloist Elizabeth Lamont (lead roles alternate during the show’s run) painted a breathtaking portrait of the ill-fated teenager who morphs before our very eyes from gleeful girl who leaps into the lap of her doting Nurse (second soloist Sarah Davey, radiating the impetuous joy of youth, to a passionate woman desperately in love with her Romeo (principal dancer Dmitri Dovgoselets) willing to swallow Friar Laurentius’s “poison” to escape her arranged marriage to Count Paris (second soloist Liam Caines; also moonlighting as Act II’s ominous, sickle-wielding Giant Death Figure).

Lamont’s prismatic acting skills are underpinned by seemingly effortless technique, including quicksilver pointe work and a gracefully lyrical port de bras as she both physically and emotionally melts into Romeo during their series of pas de deux.

Dovgoselets, as Romeo, first appears as lonely dreamer, who leaps and bounds with his naturally regal bearing likewise grounded in strong classical technique. His nuanced portrayal also mined the emotional sub-stratum of his iconic character, from macho hothead who spars — and slays — Juliet’s swaggering cousin Tybalt (albeit, a slightly restrained corps de ballet member Peter Lancksweerdt) during the the second act, to tender lover during his wedding night with Juliet.

Romeo not receiving the all-critical message from the Friar that Juliet survives appeared M.I.A, or at least it was minimized so greatly that his arrival at the tomb of the Capulets felt strangely disjointed. However, despite that hiccup, Dovgoselets provided strong ballast to Lamont during each of their compelling pas de deux that saw their physical bodies fluidly entwining — as Romeo and Juliet should — into a single molten heart.

Soloist Yosuke Mino, appearing as Romeo’s sidekick Mercutio with Benvolio (second soloist Ryan Vetter) was another highlight, with Mercutio chilling death scene where he crumples to the floor after being slain by Tybalt a powerful heart-stopper.

Kudos also to guest artists and RWB School alumni, Winnipeg-born Catherine Wreford Ledlow and L.A.-based Craig Ramsay, who marked their company debut as Lady and Lord Capulet 22 years after training at the school during the late 1990s. While technically billed as mere “character roles,” these are actual full-out plot drivers, with both Broadway stars proving in spades why they lit up the Great White Way for so many years.

Wreford Ledlow’s her fearless acting ability, as she lords power and wails over her fallen daughter, are matched only by Ramsay’s volcanic portrayal as he demands that his daughter marry Count Paris — thus providing a flipside to Romeo and Juliet — that creates a fascinating backstory well-deserving of its own ballet.

A major player in this ballet has always been Prokofiev’s thoroughly modernistic score, brought to vivid life by Earl Stafford leading the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, including a nifty mandolin dance performed by an ensemble hewn from company ranks as the Veronesi peasants. Two ragtag harlots danced by soloist Yayoi Ban and corps de ballet member Katie Bonnell look like they’re having the time of their lives as cruel death befalls their village.

The production also includes 14 students culled from the RWB School’s Professional / Recreational Division, who infuse the ballet with youthful energy, as well as the promise of future Romeos and Juliets to someday dance their own enduring tales of woe.

holly.harris@shaw.ca