Review: Varna International Ballet presents Romeo and Juliet at Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham

A story where the romantic pointee shoes should have been the main character, the dance with death stole the show and what a show.

Varna International Ballet and its orchestra brought to life the classic story of Romeo and Juliet to the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham yesterday (January 30).

The tour will continue over the weekend with Swan Lake today (January 31) and The Nutcracker (February 1).

The performance was split into two acts. each with six scenes, and each one of them is better than the last because if Act I was good, act II was impressive.

Each scene seemed so effortless, with the dancers being able to capture and transpire such emotion with their every move.

What also added to making the dance so intense was the live orchestra, which fit perfectly with the scenes, moves and emotions, making the story one to admire.

The costume choices for the performers couldn’t have been better, the contrast of the blue and red, the black of the death and the way it captured the ideal Italian carnival, floating and shining with each step.

Whenever I would look around to see if everyone around me was as mesmerized and into the story as I was I would immediately get the confirmation with the staring shiny eyes or the constant wow’s.

There were moments of passion, grief, laughter and hate, and for me, being able to capture such emotions through the power of dance is a unique ability.

From the silent pointee steps and the loud stomps, that echoed through the whole of the concert hall, to the beauty and elegance of the performance, it was impossible not to feel involved in the story.

Despite the whole performance being amazing, for me, the way that death was portrayed in the ballet was absolutely amazing, nearly, to the point of making death seem a mere fantasy.

When you think that love wins everything, in the end, death shows up dressed in black and with skulls to surprise you once more and steal the show, nearly making you want to dance with death.

Romeo and Juliet was the most beautiful ballet I have seen, it brought a classic story onto the stage with pointee shoes and all I wanted to do after watching the performance was dance and fall in love. — MT