Sneak peek | A New Romeo & Juliet for Les Grands Ballets
A new Romeo & Juliet for Les Grands Ballets
Our favourite theatrical tragic love story is back on stage. In Montreal where we lay our scene. It is Les Grands Ballets latest version, interpreted by Ivan Cavallari. On the famous notes of Prokofiev, the purity of Romeo and Juliet’s love comes to life from March 23 to 27 at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier.
A breathtaking show where the company’s 45 dancers will shine and showcase its orchestra of 43 musicians and superior soloists that have played a major role in the success of Les Grands Ballets for more than 30 years. Fasten your incorigeably romantic belt and get ready to hold back your tears, as this EPIC romance does NOT have a Disney ending.
Inspired by Prokofiev’s timeless score, Ivan Cavallari centers his neoclassical retelling of this love story on the characters Romeo and Juliet, whose names have been echoing through time. Drawing on Italian literature from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, Cavallari decorates this icoinc Shakespearian story and gives himself a few liberties with this mythical tragedy. The resulting setting is equally uncluttered and full of references to ignite the spectator’s imagination, transporting them to a place beyond time where our eternal lovers’ plight plays out across the eras.
“Romeo and Juliet is a universal love story that has inspired many generations of artists from Dante to Shakespeare, who brought to this story, such a worldwide appeal. I like to think that Romeo and Juliet shouldn’t be connected to a specific period as I believe love inhabits an ageless space.” – Ivan Cavallari, Artistic Director and Choreographer. Gen Xers will have tranfixed in their memories DiCaprio’s excellent take on a modern cinematic Romeo- Queue in the Love At First sight scene, with Circa 90s Star Claire Danes.
Synopsis of Romeo & Juliet
Cavallari preserves the tragic and humorous dimensions of Shakespeare’s play while reappropriating the dramaturgy in his own way: he introduces a new character, Countess Guelfi, and develops the storylines of the parents with rich intrigue and dangerous liaisons. All the ingredients of a tragedy are present: innocence, passion, games of power. His work is a portrait of the disorder of the world and the fragility of existence, mirroring Shakespearean themes of death and the quest for redemption.
Fundraising campaign for its costumes
Les Grands Ballets launched last fall a campaign for the costume of this new ballet. The public is invited to take part in this creation by contributing directly to financing the roughly 140 costumes for this classic, tailored to measure for more than 40 dancers. Romeo & Juliet’s costumes means…
• Close to 140 costumes
• Kilometer’s worth of fabric (1,000 meters of fabric purchased)
• $570,000+ invested in the costumes with $12,000 and $10,000 respectively for Juliet’s and Romeo’s wardrobes
• Working time estimated at close to 8,000 hours (including research and development, cutting and sewing)
Romeo & Juliet Youth Project
Les Grands Ballets has always believed in the importance of reaching out to sick, vulnerable and disadvantaged children by giving them access to creativity and the arts. A new project was created for young people, taking our new pandemic reality into account.
With a little help from the event’s host, guests will be able to immerse themselves in this impossible love story. Artistic Director Ivan Cavallari will be on hand with the company’s dancers to speak about Les Grands Ballets, the life of a dancer and the excerpts performed. To learn more about the Romeo & Juliet youth project, click here. for tickets visit grandsballets.com or call (514) 849-0269.
Searching for a nearby restaurant prior or for after the performance? Tiramisu is a chic Italian-Japanese restaurant inside the brand-new Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites by Hilton Montreal Downtown hotel complex.
