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Grand Theatre de Geneve Ballet Company: Romeo and Juliet

Venue:

National Centre for the Performing Arts - Opera House

2 West Chang'an Avenue Xicheng Beijing

Date:

9/11/2018 - 9/12/2018

This ticket is only available as a paper ticket

Closed

Grand Theatre de Geneve Ballet Company: Romeo and Juliet

9/11/2018 - 9/12/2018

National Centre for the Performing Arts - Opera House

2 West Chang'an Avenue Xicheng Beijing

￥100 - ￥1392

Paper ticket

Event details

When the Geneva Ballet's director, Philippe Cohen, met Swiss-born, Paris-based choreographer Joëlle Bouvier a few years ago to discuss a possible collaboration, he asked her what project she would most like to do."I told him I wanted to create a new Romeo and Juliet with the music of Prokofiev," she recounts. "And he said, 'But how extraordinary. That is exactly what I wanted you to do.'"

The result is a minimalist (in Bouvier's words, "simple") version of the Shakespeare story, performed to three orchestral suites taken from Prokofiev's ballet score.

Gone are the parents, gone is the priest, gone even is the nurse. What remains are the two central stories, which give different takes on love and loyalty: the tragic story of the two teenage lovers from rival families at war, and the tragic battle between Juliet's cousin Tybalt and Romeo's best friend, Mercutio.

Bouvier's version begins with a funeral: the corps de ballet try to dance some doll-like figures clad in white to live again. Then the scene moves back in time, to the dance where the teenage lovers first meet.

This pared down interpretation of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ works by assuming that each audience member has a fairly detailed understanding of the play.

While in reality, this might be a fair presumption, due to Shakespeare’s international acclaim, it does pose a risk of alienating some audience members. However, this presumption works well. Not only is it particularly rewarding to those with a prior appreciation of the play, but clear allusions made to the most loved scenes are enjoyed and recognised by all. The balcony scene is particularly special, where the balcony itself is formed by the moving bodies of the ballerinas, physically supporting Juliet as she laments to Romeo below.

‘Two households both alike in dignity’ By using the play’s international esteem to his advantage, Cove has condensed ‘Romeo and Juliet’ into 70 concise minutes.

Director: Philippe Cohen

Since Philippe Cohen’s nomination as the manager of the Grand Théâtre de Genève Ballet Company in 2003, the Geneva Ballet undertook a radical reshaping of its repertoire and image, based on two principles apparently worlds apart: tradition and creation. Tradition in the sense of claiming one’s part in a historical narrative; creation in the sense of actively taking part in writing that narrative for tomorrow.

By cleaving to these principles, the Grand Théâtre de Genève Ballet Company seeks not so much to cultivate the richness of its position as to position itself measuredly in a state of creative imbalance, of permanent questioning. This explains the Company’s original and daring artistic choices, resolutely modern and ambitious, and our preference for young choreographers who show the promise of great things in the years to come. By inviting these young choreographers to come and work with no restrictions in Geneva, we hope to establish a momentum of modernity that does not break with the past, but rather echoes its riches and creates a dynamic towards the future.

About The Company

In 1962, the Grand Théâtre de Genève gave itself a resident ballet company and since then, the Geneva Ballet has commissioned two new productions every season from internationally renowned choreographers, which have made its reputation in Switzerland and abroad. The Ballet’s premieres always take place in Geneva, but the company is frequently and regularly on tour abroad, with recent appearances in France, Italy, the United States, Russia, Australia, Brazil, China and South Africa).

The Grand Théâtre de Genève is Geneva’s opera house. Between Opéra des Nations and the scene at the Place de Neuve, it stages opera and ballet performances, recitals and concerts whose level of excellence identifies the Grand Théâtre as one of the great opera houses of the world.

Credits

Choreography: Joëlle Bouvier
Music: Serguei Prokófiev
Scenery: Rémi Nicolas / Jacqueline Bosson
Costume: Philippe Combeau / Joëlle Bouvier
Light: Rémi Nicolas

Notice

Date: 11th Sep (Tue) - 12th Sep (Wed) @ 19:30

There is no age limit but Children under 1.2 meters are not allowed into the venue.

ALL ATTENDEES NEED A TICKET.

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Grand Theatre de Geneve Ballet Company: Romeo and Juliet

Venue:

National Centre for the Performing Arts - Opera House

2 West Chang'an Avenue Xicheng Beijing

Date:

9/11/2018 - 9/12/2018

This ticket is only available as a paper ticket