The Stuttgart Ballet has arrived!

Cynthia C. Harrison

No, not on the international scene where the company has been critically acclaimed since the early 1960's, but rather at a more modest venue. The Orange County Performing Arts Center has hosted the Stuttgart Ballet for the past week as the dancers dazzled audiences with their athleticism and technique.

Beginning March 18, 2003, the company presented three shorter contemporary works: "the seventh blue", choreography by Christian Spuck, music by Franz Schubert, György Kurtag and Dieter Fenchel; "Cindy's Gift", choreography by Douglas Lee, music by John Cage and Roderick Vanderstraeten; and "Seventh Symphony", choreography by Uwe Scholz, music by Ludwig van Beethoven. From March 21st through the 23rd, the company is dancing ballet founder John Cranko's "Romeo and Juliet", based on the play by William Shakespeare.

John Cranko came to the Stuttgart Ballet in 1961 at the invitation of Walter Erich Schaefer, then the director of the Württemberg State Theatre. Born in Rustenburg, South Africa, Cranko had studied with the Sadler's Wells Ballet (which became the Royal Ballet) after receiving his dance education at the University of Cape Town. After creating short ballets Cranko distinguished himself with his choreography of Romeo and Juliet, which premiered in December 1962.

Reid Anderson danced as an original star of the Ballet under Cranko's
direction for 17 years. After Cranko died unexpectedly in 1973, the Stuttgart suffered a narrowing of its fame. Instead of earning international recognition, it once again was confined to regional popularity. According to Canadian theatre and dance critic Gary Smith, the appointment of Reid Anderson as artistic director of the Stuttgart Ballet in 1996 reenergized the company.

Anderson recognized the need for a different energy and invited 21 new dancers to the company. Their athleticism and skill are showcased in Romeo and Juliet. In the opening scene, the audience finds Romeo in the marketplace as he woos Rosaline. Principal dancer Filip Barankiewicz plays a confident, swaggering Romeo. As the day begins, the music mimics the awakening marketplace. We meet Romeo's companions, Mercutio, danced by Thomas Lempertz, and Benvolio, danced by Jason Reilly. The three are clearly great friends, able to follow each others enthusiastic dancing with ease. Their dancing ties them together so closely that it suggests the three characters could be brothers. They take turns flirting with the gypsy women whose brightly coloured costumes, in crimson and matte gold, easily catch the eye.

As the morning continues, we meet the rest of the members of the House of Montague in coral as well as Tybalt, danced by Ibrahim Önal, and the those aligning themselves with the House of Capulet dressed in green. The Capulet theme is weighty and measured, and Prokofiev must have had a grand time composing those pendulum-like harmonies. Mistrust between the two houses is evident, as is a spirit of competition. The tension is broken by the appearance of the Duke of Verona, entering on a dais carried aloft by bearers wearing his livery. Romeo, Mercutio, Benvolio and Tybalt grudgingly make peace in order to pacify the angered Duke.

The set changes and we meet Juliet, danced by Sue Jin Kang. Juliet is the only woman on pointe thus far, and Kang's grace infuses her Juliet with youthful exuberance. Juliet plays with her Nurse, who never dances, until Lady Capulet, Juliet's mother enters. Even without overt dance steps, Lady Capulet and the Nurse do not stick out, due to the elegant style of their movements.

The ball at the Capulet's house was beautifully rendered. Moving in
staggered lines, the Corps portrayed the ordered formality of the age. The costumes matched the set in black and gold with large patterns and billowing fabrics. Only Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio stand out in their fuchsia shawls that along with masks, attempt to conceal their identity.

It is at this ball, while Juliet is dancing with her betrothed, Paris, that she sees Romeo for the first time. And it is at this moment that we realize theenormous talent of Barankiewicz and Kang. Romeo's movements change entirely and become more fluid and expansive. Juliet is so shy, as indicated by the series of beurre steps that lead her at once towards and then away from the mesmerized Romeo. Each audience member is transported by the fervor in the glances
shared by the two dancers.

After the ball, Romeo comes to see the beautiful Juliet. She is upon her balcony and is breathtakingly fragile and innocent. Romeo lowers her to the ground as they dance a very romantic pas de deux. She is at once retiring and engaged; he is strong and tender. Their movements mimic birds soaring together, wings moving in time. As the act ends, Romeo leaves Juliet, both characters visibly changed by the encounter.

When the curtain rises again, we return to the marketplace of the beginning of Act I. Romeo is no longer the playboy flirting with Rosaline and Gypsy girls. Instead, he is completely absorbed by thoughts of Juliet, swinging his legs while sitting on a table stage left. He is awakened from his reverie by Juliet's ambling nurse, who gives him a note from her mistress. Overjoyed, the scene ends with Romeo hurrying to Friar Laurence's cloister.

Once there, Juliet is waiting for Romeo, having been blessed by the Friar. On their knees, the two young people lock eyes as they are married. We are transported back to the marketplace and the most brilliant action sequence of the ballet. Romeo returns on wings from his secret marriage ceremonyto find Tybalt waiting for him. Trying to incite Romeo to fight, Tybalt stirsthe wrath of Mercutio who accepts the challenge. The two men dance across the floor, their swords matching the frenzied pace of Prokofiev's conflict theme.

The moment the swaggering Mercutio falls into Tybalt's sword is the end ofRomeo's age of revelry. Taking up his own sword, Romeo ferociously attacks Tybalt, killing him. Lady Capulet, seeing her felled cousin, climbs atop his bier. Tortured, she lifts her arm in anguish as the curtain falls.

Act III begins in Juliet's bedroom, as she lies in the arms of her new
husband, Romeo. With intimate grace, Romeo caresses Juliet's long, black hair, letting it slide through his fingers like silk. His reluctance to leave is made apparent by his body carriage, but he tears himself away just as Lord and Lady Capulet and Paris enter. Juliet begs on bended knee for mercy from her father, begs to be released from the betrothal. Lord Capulet unflinchingly holds his ground, both metaphorically and literally, and the scene ends with Juliet rushing to the apothecary.

Friar Laurence provides Juliet with the famed vial. She returns to her home where she takes the poison and falls into a deep sleep. The next morning, her bridesmaid come to rouse her with dance and revelry. This was the only moment of the ballet that I found greatly lacking. Ten women from the corps danced onto the stage, clomping around in their toe shoes. I have the greatest reverence for how difficult it must be to dance in toe shoes, but Juliet had done it for the last two hours with minimal sound. Compared to her delicate footfalls, these dancers can only be compared to herding buffalo. One woman must have had extremely new shoes, because with every turn, the leather squeaked against the wood stage. This noise proved to be extremely distracting, but nothing could have saved the lack of timing exhibited by one of the women in particular.

While ten had entered the stage, the dancers would pair off and while their colleagues danced together, the two would perform a short combination on their own. One woman was off by half a beat the entire time. Her arms were late, her footwork wasn't fast enough, and the lack of synchronization broke the line of the scene. I would have expected all of that noise to wake the poisoned Juliet, and apparently, it did.

When Juliet did not open her eyes, Lady Capulet entered and
thought her daughter dead. She is taken to the Capulet crypt, where she lays in state with Paris mourning her at her side. Romeo enters and his movements capture his short journey from disbelief to overwhelming sadness. He makes quick work of Paris, leaving him dead on the floor.

Taking his dagger, Romeo climbs upon the bier, mimicking Lady Capulet's behavior with Tybalt. As he stabs himself, he lies beside Juliet, and in one last moment of intimacy, again strokes her hair as he dies.

Juliet's innocent fervor is a distant memory as she wakes and realizes Romeo is beside her and dead. Without hesitation, she plunges his dagger into her side and takes him in her arms in a pose reminiscent of the Pieta, interesting considering the young age of the lovers.

Cranko's vision is complete both for dance aficionados and novice ballet attendees. As the critic Gary Smith noted before the ballet began, this version is a three-hankie. He was correct, but not just because of the subject matter. Juliet embodied all of the ebullience and hope of a young woman in love, while her Romeo captured macho bravado translated into attentive fascination and appreciation. The entire cast did justice to the 40 year old choreography, that has not gotten older, simply better.

Cynthia Harrison is a student at Santa Monica College.