Dance: Star-Cross'd Soap ; ON DANCE Romeo and Juliet Sadler's Wells, London Tribute to the Art of Football ICA, London

Gilbert, Jenny, The Independent (London, England)

There are many reasons why a ballet company would want its own version of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. It has a plot that every audience knows in advance; it has the most glorious score ever written for ballet; it has four meaty solo parts for boys (and that's rare).

But in this country there is compelling reason for caution. Sir Kenneth MacMillan's 1965 version for the Royal Ballet, with its glowing designs by Nicholas Georgiadis, has become the standard that all R&Js must measure up to. It's not faultless - screeds of crowd scenes could be cut - but the emotional core of Sir Kenneth's work, in the pas de deux, is universally judged sublime.

That did not deter …

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: Dance: Star-Cross'd Soap ; ON DANCE Romeo and Juliet Sadler's Wells, London Tribute to the Art of Football ICA, London. Contributors: Gilbert, Jenny - Author. Newspaper title: The Independent (London, England). Publication date: November 21, 1999. Page number: 7. © 2009 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.