Romeo and Julia - Hans Henning Paar
Romeo and Julia, everyone knows. One theatre play by Sir Shakespeare gave birth to at least two famous music pieces (Berlioz and Prokoviev), thousands of versions of the play in the theatre, and almost as many dance pieces.
Last saturday, I attended what was for me the 4th adaptation of the play to dance.
After the magistral Romeo and Julia by Noureev at the Paris Opera (one of my most beloved dance performance), the other very classical version by John Crancko from stuttgart I attended a few weeks ago at the Munich Opera, the more neo-classical vision by Jean-Christophe Maillot (zith the beautiful Bernice Coppieters), here I was, at the Staatstheater Gärtnerplatz for another neo-classical interpretation by Hans Menning Paar..
I already told it, I love this theater, of which I have seen everything. This Romeo and Julia was the first work by Paar I was attending. Very curious of both his style, and of his company. Disappointed, I was not at all..
The style of Paar is full of purity, poetry, sensibility. He gives a really intense version of the ballet by mixing pure beautiful pas de deux where the two dancers really emboddy love, moments of violence, fight, that are incredibly full of reality, but also lots of humour, especially during the Bal in the second act. The vocabulary he uses is light, fluent, accessible to everyone.
At the same time, he really creates something personal by having covered the floor with leaves. As were we already in autumn. The autumn of love maybe, where the two lovers are close to the end.
It is also of important to mention the quality of the dancers. All. soloists and Corps de Ballet. Although the choreography is very technical, and asks an extreme precision, all the dancers are of unique quality. Precision and simplicity seem to be there motto. And that gives the ballet a quality that even the Munich Opera Ballet did not have;
Last, but not least, the orchester was of high quality that night. The score by Prokoviev is a real challenge for an orchestra, and this one just passed the tests.
Congratulations to all. Looking forward to attend Coppelia onJanuary, 17th.. This is a ballet I don't particularly love, but I am curious to fin out whether this version will change my opinion on the ballet..
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