LA DANCE PROJECT’S ROMEO & JULIET SUITE AT THE WALLIS

After being performed around the world, LA Dance Project’s Romeo and Juliet Suite has come home to LA, courtesy of the Wallis Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills.

The Wallis has always been, and still is, my favorite theatre in town. And hands down, it’s the absolute best place to see dance! (Or anything, really.)

As you may know, dance is my favorite art, but I adore classical music, as well, (mainly when it’s accompanying a ballet or figure skating program.) And none more than Prokofiev’s score for this ballet. So I loved hearing it played so beautifully, (although not live,) by the London Symphony Orchestra.

The Romeo and Juliet Suite curtain call, complete with standing ovation. Photo by Karen Salkin.

I knew beforehand that the Romeo and Juliet Suite was listed as being just an hour and a quarter long, (which it actually is!,) so I was curious as to how they were going to get in all the auxiliary plot lines and characters in that brief time. But, it turns-out, several of them, such as Juliet’s nurse and Friar Lawrence, have been left-out, which is no biggie in this case. On top of that, with the stage being totally bare, (which is actually the best for concentrating on the dancing itself,) I kept wondering how the balcony scene was going to be portrayed. (I found-out later. Possibly. More on it in a moment.) Outside of those few technical questions to myself, I gave up trying to figure-out the specifics of this version of Shakespeare’s classic tale, and just admired the wonderful dancing my eyes were being treated to.

Choreographed by Benjamin Millepied*, the Romeo and Juliet Suite is not only about the dancing; there’s an interesting sort-of “live-stream” aspect to the production, (only to the Wallis audience, though.) The dancers were all excellent, of course, but the VIP of the presentation was Sebastien Marcovici, the cameraman. At many points in the dance, he follows, (or, more often, gets ahead of,) the dancers, filming them with a steadi-cam, with the images showing-up on a gigantic screen where a backdrop would be. *[In case you recognize his name but know not from where, I’ll save you the brain strain and let you know that Benjamin Millepied choreographed the movie Black Swan which brought him loads of attention in more than just the dance world, where he was already well-known.]

Many of the scenes take place backstage, such as one of a masquerade, so those are projected onto that screen, as well. A lot of work went into designing the specifics of all the filming. At one point, the camera followed Romeo and Juliet up one aisle of the Wallis’ Bram Goldsmith theatre and out to the lobby, and then out of the entire edifice onto the theatre-level patio, up those stairs to the street level, and finally on to the airy upstairs patio where the parties are often held. And that’s where the beautiful pas de deux was performed.

One of the backstage shots, this one of a party scene.

Someone who saw the shows this past weekend asked me if I thought the reason they did that section of the production outside was that there wasn’t enough space on the stage for the scope of it. But there definitely was room, so I’m positive that it was an artistic choice, as opposed to a practical one. I believe that the high-up terrace stood in for the balcony in the narrative. It also looked to me like Millipied is trying to blend stage and screen for a different kind of dance performance. (If any of you have a thought on that, please enlighten us in the Comments section below.)

There are no bad seats at the Wallis, at all, but in case, as I do, you like to use binoculars to see the performers’ faces or costumes in detail, there was no need for them this time because many of those features are right up there on the gigantic screen. Projected on there, too, are many overhead shots, which are reminiscent of the Busby Berkeley film musicals of the 1930s. While not close to the kaleidoscopic Berkeley pioneered, the technique is still very rarely seen these days. I’ve actually never seen it done live! [Note: The Wallis occasionally shows a film in that theatre, so if that’s the screen they appear on, I recommend checking them out there.]

The dancers in front, with overhead images of them on the giant screen behind them. (The colors show that this is not the actual performance I saw. Neither is the one at the top of this page.)

By the way, for those of you expecting this Romeo and Juliet Suite to be a classical ballet, it is not; the style is basically contemporary combined with what I refer to as modern ballet. There’s not a toe shoe in sight! Nor even a ballet slipper.

The beginning is a tad different from the norm, as well. It begins with just a couch on the stage, which a cast member sits on for just a few seconds before it’s taken away. And then they introduce “Romeo” and “Juliet” by showing us the dancer who plays each character while writing his or her name on a chalkboard on a lower level on the side of the stage. (I think they do that because some of their performances feature same-sex duos as the star-crossed lovers; this way, the audience knows which person is playing each character.) We really enjoyed Jeremy Coachman and Audrey Sides as the couple.

The cast wore modern attire, with no color except for Romeo’s blue tank top; the rest of the costumes were shades of black, brown, and gray. There was no other color anywhere other than the red floor, screen, and opening couch.

The stage of the Wallis before the show began. Photo by Karen Salkin.

On a side wardrobe note, I absolutely adore the black dance boots on the ladies! I wore similar ones often in my clubbing days because I took my time in the clubs seriously; I was there to dance, not drink and flirt, (the former of which I’ve never done, by the way.) So I was thrilled when the Romeo and Juliet Suite cast slowly came down the steps right next to me near the end of the show, so I could get a close-up gander at that footwear! (Yes, I do know that I’m a tad strange.)

Coming up at the Wallis this week-end is Circa: Humans 2.0, which is an acrobatic show described as a “next-level circus.” (A friend checked them out on-line and told me, “They look amazing!”) I can’t wait!

If you’re as into the arts as I am, please check-out the Wallis’ full schedule, so you do not miss any of their always-worthwhile presentations: www.thewallis.org