Romeo et Juliette

I took Victoria today to see Romeo et Juliette at the Pacific Northwest Ballet. http://www.pnb.org/season/romeo.html. It Was So Beautiful. I love the ballet, of course, and I hope that Victoria is learning to love the ballet as well. The costumes were lovely, of course. Very airy and full of movement and beautiful drape. We always sit up front so Victoria can see the feet and I can see the stitching. I’m amazed at the sheer amount of detailing that goes into each and every costume.

This ballet is a bit more contemporary than the other production in the reporatory. The lighting was very creative and definitely added to the mood. Lucien Postlewaite and Peter Boal were at the “informal Q&A” afterwards and as always it was very interesting. They talked about how in the street fight scene the lighting was changed so that the slow motion of the dancers would be even more accented. The balance of the dancers is always amazing, of course, but picture a man being hit in the face, flipping backwards across the back of another dancer in a backwards somersault and landing, all in slow movement as though everyone was moving through molasses. It was incredible.

The ballet itself was very passionate. You absolutely felt the instant infatuation of Romeo and Juliette when they met at the ball; as well as their joy and later deep grief. Lady Capulet was incredible as well. Something funny was during the Q&A when someone asked (not me!) if this was Lucien’s first “passionate” stage kiss and he said that although it was not his first stage kiss, it was definitely the most passionate… in that he got carried away and had to say “sorry I just gave you tongue”. Noelani Pantastico was amazing - she danced all nine performances, and the entire last act is in bare feet!

We did have brunch beforehand at the ballet cafe. It was actually really good - better than I had anticipated. We will definitely go there again. It was crazy crowded but we still were able to get a table right away and it worked out to be good timing.