Stadsschouwburg Utrecht, 13 january 2013

Choreography, concept and decor: Ed Wubbe

Romeo performed by: Maxime Lachaume

Julia performed by: Chiara Mezzadri

Muscic: The legendary love orchestra

Scapino Ballet presents a remake of

'Romeo en Julia'

“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?”  Who doesn’t know this world famous sentence?

A tragedy which was written around 1594-95 by William Shakespeare, has been filmed, the music has been re-composed by more than eight different composers and it has been performed by several dance companies.

With the remake of Romeo en Julia, the Scapino Ballet succeeded to breathe new life into this old fashion tragedy.

A triangular light plane was projected in the upper left corner of the stage. A dark skin colored man was playing on a djembe while he was entering the stage followed by Romeo and his friends. After a while, Tybalt and his friends entered the stage as well. A group with Tybalt in the front, dressed in black, with high black boots and the presence that he had made a clear statement. The tension that arose between these two rivals, Romeo and Tybalt, erupted in a fight. The fight reflected in pushing and throwing each other around in the space with acrobatic tricks on the back wall of the stage that was built up in a diagonal.

This part of the performance attracted me a lot because of the tension they created. The djembe in the beginning was a kind of warning, like there was a upcoming storm, it grabbed my attention immediately. With the entrance of Tybalt and his friends I could really feel the tension rising.

One of the male dancers in this “chaotic” part was Jefta Tanate , a recently graduated dancer from ArtEZ. I admire his way of moving and the use of tricking elements, a combination of martial arts and the contemporary dance. Really fascinating to see!

Jefta Tanate performing in Romeo & Julia

As the choreographer was saying himself in an interview that this remake of Romeo and Juliet could also took place in Afghanistan, Irak or Syrië had to do with the music that was been played by “The Legendary love Orchestra” who were playing live on stage. A mix of different cultures like India, Senegal, Brazil and Africa and a combination of instruments such as djembe, Indian table and Argentine bandoneon created a middle east atmosphere. 

The relation between the dancers and musicians worked so strong, they really mattered instead of having just some music with the performance. It took me into the story. The men had a really strong presence, with using small movements they still had a good physicality. Also the costumes the men were wearing made them looked like they were ruling, powerful!

To see a performance without being forced to go deep into the story line and to enjoy more the sensation of movements and music I would definitely recommend this performance. 

Reviewed by: Maarten Krielen