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Aubriella Naud
Danc1100
Carly Schaub
15 April 2019
Dance Concert Analysis Paper

This performance illuminates both the beauty and innocence that come with falling in

love as well as the tragedy and heartache brought from losing it. I saw Utah Metropolitan

Ballet’s performance of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet on March 9th at 2pm. The performance

took place in tall ceilinged theatre with 3 seating sections facing a proscenium stage. The music

accompanying this performance was recordings of pieces that composer Sergei Prokofiev

composed originally for the first Romeo and Juliet ballet. The choreography was composed from

classical ballet technique and choreographed by Jacqueline P Colledge. Juliet performed by

Katelyn Conrad the danseuse, has been the soloist at Utah Metropolitan Ballet since 2017. The

danseur who was performing the role of Romeo was Jordan Veit, a guest artist for this

production as he is currently a soloist with Ballet West.

In Act 1 scene V1: The balcony, a Pas de Deux. Juliet’s costume is a romantic era

white/cream colored tutu, that was a sheer fabric from the waist down. The bodice of the dress

had tank top straps that were lightly beaded in white and silver beads. Romeo’s costume was a

simple white tunic top and traditional skin colored tights, he also wore a green cape when he first

entered the stage at the beginning of the scene. As the scene began you see Juliet standing up in

her balcony, from my view in the audience I saw towering over her balcony a gigantic tree prop

with ivy growing up the side of it. The feeling created from the dancers initial movement

interactions in this scene were of a timid and curious nature. Romeo enters the stage from the
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audiences left hand side, making his entrance into Juliet's garden by pieruetting in a stretched out

S shape across the centre stage. Juliet breaks her dream like state when she sees a figure in her

garden trying get her attention, Romeo drops his cape to reveal it is in fact him. Juliet emerges

down into the garden with a running step from a hidden set of stairs behind the balcony prop.

Romeo reaches out to grab her hand but not before she pulls it away and into a soft third position

as to shield her face. The innocence Juliet portrays with soft curved down arm in demi-second

and third positions, pieuroutts in attitude, and the timely flashes of admiration in a smile at

Romeo. Their physical proximity quickly increases as the scene progresses, ending in a

passionate kiss. Romeo’s highly skilled technique was notice in this scene with his tour jeté,

effortless fouetté turns and perfect timing. This scene encapsulates young love beautifully, the

bashfulness of falling in love for the first time can be seen in the dancers movements and facial

expressions.

In Act III scene I, Romeo and Juliet share their unknowing last moments together in her

bedroom. Juliet this time in a simple, non-beaded white costume that is sheer from mid torso

down to her knees. This costume appeared to be a night gown or a slip for a dress that her nurse

would soon bring in. The scene was set with a side view of Juliet's canopy bed on the house left

and tall sheer white curtains behind it suspended from the ceiling covering half the stage. On the

house right of the back of the stage there were four grey potted plants and a waist high wall

structure, symbolizing juliet's balcony. Romeo enters the stage from behind the balcony wearing

light grey tights and a light grey tunic. Immediately juliet comes to embrace her beloved Romeo

with a running step across the stage. Since the dancers were so emotionally invested in this scene

they convey a powerfully intimate feeling, that everyone in the theater could observe. The most
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striking series of movements in this scene were the overhead lifts and the turns where Romeo

would support Juliet. The intimate fish dive lift performed by the two, was the most technically

impressive movement in this theater performance. The storyline continues in this scene with

Romeo supporting Juliet in a promenade before exiting the stage on the house right. Once

Juliet’s father, Lord Capulet breaks the news that she is to be wed to Paris, distraught facial

expressions and frantic movements explode from Juliet. These frantic movements came in the

form of quick horizontal glissades and pas de chats and curved arms as if to shield her face from

being seen from Lord Capulet. This scene showcases the heartache of being forced apart from

the one you love most.

This performance engulfs you from the moment Romeo and Juliet meet. The beauty and

emotion created from many of the elements in Romeo and Juliets Pas de Deux, the dancers

costumes, and the perfectly timed facial expressions. I thought that both the principal dancers

performing as Romeo and as Juliet were incredibly talented but even more emotionally invested

in their performance. That was also in part of why I felt that the expressions of falling in love

was so believable. While Act 1 scene V1 and Act III scene I embody different emotions, they are

crucial scenes because they showcase the necessary perspectives for the audience to see what it

looks like to fall in love but then how it feels when you lose it.
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