Prokofiev - Romeo and Juliet (Royal Ballet) [VHS]

This is an older tape with Margot Fonteyn and Rudolph Nureyev but worth having as it is a famous version. Ballet was very lucky to have the Russians expand it and the best ballets ever are the ones with music by the 3 Russian composers; Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Stravinsky! Romeo and Juliet is such a beautiful ballet and the music can't be beat...Prokofiev's best music!

Tonight I watched Romeo and Juliet again, this time with two of my granddaughters. I have seen it with my parents, with my wife and three children, and now with my grandchildren. I attended the movie in Washington, in Boston, and in Albany, NY many years ago. This version has become part of my life, as have its stars, Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn. Why I have not reviewed it before, I do not know.This Royal Ballet version of Romeo and Juliet is so fine, so spectacular, so moving, and so incrediblly beautiful that in my opinion there is no other ballet that can compare with it. First there is the poignantly tragic love story of Shakespeare. Add to it the hauntingly expressive, classic-yet-modern music of Prokofiev. Stir in Kenneth MacMillan's sensitive and exuberant choreography. And as the supreme touch, have it danced by the most exhilarating male dancer who every performed, in partnership with the most delicate and vulnerable ballernina of the past century. Here you have the masterpiece of all masterpieces. A ballet that puts other ballets to shame with their weak plots and lack of emotional substance.My two favorite scenes are the balcony scene, and the scene where Romeo dances with a lifeless Juliet. The first exudes love and passion, as Nureyev and Fonteyn are transported by their new-found love to a height beyond all measure. In the second, your heart freezes and you strain to hold back tears as Romeo tries to coax the life back into Juliet by dancing with her limp but still graceful form. There are no touchingly valid moments such as these in any other ballet I have seen.The superb costumes are worthy of a Zefferelli production, although this is not one, of course. The scenery is adequate but not impressive. But most important, all the dancers communicate a vitality that is convincing and contagious. The swordplay is amazing in its complexity and realism. Tybolt's death and his wife's grief are overdone with just the right touch of modernity.But mainly, Nureyev and Fonteyn bring each scene they dance into brilliant flower. And when they dance together something of the mystery and tragedy of their two very different lives comes to the surface and animates their performance, giving it a realism that communicates their deep emotion for each other.This is heartfelt and heart-wrenching art. When it finishes, one is exhausted and drained, but also inspired and delighted that this one-of-a-kind performance was recorded so that one may enjoy it over and over again.

The music of this ballet is brilliant, delicate, extremely expressive and dramatic. Every moment in the show finds its strength and its emotion in the music itself. All the scenes where a crowd occupies the stage are enriched with popular dances, be it on the market place or during the ball at the Capulets. But we are waiting for the more intimate scenes with Romeo and Juliet and those scenes become dainty, light, but never joyful, because we feel under the surface the drama that is coming and will find its full expression in the vault at the end. The fight scenes on the other hand are first of all and above all sombre and dark, bleak and full of shadows, the shadows of our memory and of our inherited culture : we know that playing with such a fire is deadly, fatal and lethal, and the music is there to make that hellish fire of hatred burn anew and burn ablaze. But it is a ballet and The Royal Ballet of London makes a miracle with a gorgeous setting, with superb costumes, with delicate and light dancing, all the time. Naturally Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev are the stars, but stars in a sky very well staffed and packed with smaller stars, but stars all the same. And the gleaming light of the main stars is enhanced by the twinkling lights of the others. They do not dominate. They are carried to the top by the magic carpet of all the dancers that fly high and swift in the sky of the music. And this classical dancing is also enriched with the expressivity of every movement, of every bearing of the heads, of every look in the eyes, so much so that we do not even know where to start looking, watching, admiring and satiating our desire of beauty. Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, Paris Universities II and IX.

I saw this movie in 1966 and found it wonderful. It was the only opportunity I ever had of seeing Nureyev dance with Fontayne, who was certainly the main motivation for his defection. The strength of the movie is in the fact that Fontayne is in her 40's when she dances this Juliet, but her wonderful dancing captures the lightness and youth of Juliet. I agree with Malkin, too many zoom-in shots prevent you from appreciating the "blocking" of the scenes (in ballet one creates a full picture for the audience), and it shows every wrinkle in Dame Margot's face. One kept wishing the cameramen had "backed off" so that the audience could appreciate the full impact of this performance. A film for those who prefer Prokofiev's score to Tschaikovsky's music.

I found it much harder to find a great video ballet tape than a audio musical recording. The former needs all the ingredient to be right to make it perfect: The choreography, the music, the dance skill, the costume...and the list goes on.Nureyev and Fonteyn's Romeo and Juliet is one of the ballet movie that has all the ingredients. Based on Shakespear and Prokofiev's masterpiece, McMillan's choreography fully conserved the dramatic intensity. Nureyev and Fonteyn's performance is a treat for anyone who is in love.The costume is dazzling! This is something hard to find in Russian productions.I highly recommend this tape to ballet fans and anyone that is hopelessly romantic.

I had the great thrill of seeing this performed in London. They certainly were two of the centuries greatest, and this ballet was was known to be their greatest. They show too many closeups where age and make up spoil the illusion (they do that with opera video recordings too) however this is a great classic performance, and it is lucky that we have it on tape to see now after both performers are gone.