In my review of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Romeo and Juliet, which I referenced on Slog yesterday, I dissed Kent Stowell’s version of Romeo and Juliet for its chasteness. Specifically, I placed it squarely in the classical line of ballets—the kind of ballet with “Nobody copping a feel. No kissing—no way. Love is a platonic thing that is impressive and repressive and wears its hair in a bun. It’s nothing to do with sex.”
Turns out I am a liar. A commenter pointed it out to me yesterday:
- There is hair, there is kiss, this is Stowell’s, I am sorry.
Hold on a minute, Jen. Have you ever seen Kent Stowell’s Romeo and Juliet? Juliet has a whole lot of hair flowing (remember Patricia Barker?), there IS kissing, and during the bedroom pas, there’s a lengthy downstage-left full-length feel.
on September 29, 2009 at 3:20 PM
Wondering about this, I asked PNB’s spokesman, Gary Tucker, and he confirmed that, indeed, there is hair, kissing, and at least some feel-copping. He even provided photographic evidence.
Well, now I feel sheepish. I saw Stowell’s version (just once), but I honestly don’t remember any of those. I recall very little heat, in fact. (Regulars who can compare both, am I misremembering?)
On the particulars, alas, I am a liar. I’m sorry. I suppose and hope that my main point stands: that Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette is unprecedentedly hot for this story on this stage—and not by a little but by a lot.
Holy crap… when I expanded that picture I thought at first that her hand was going between his legs. Just the outline of his Danseur’s Bulge though.
Yes, the new R&J is many times hotter than the Stowell version (which I’ve seen a handful of times).
Another part of the Stowell R&J that I always despised was all the awful mugging and miming that was required of the dancers to get across the complicated details of Shakespeare’s story. The Maillot R&J smooths over all those details and gets to the heart (and passion) of the story in a much simpler and less awkward way.
Excellent choice for the Genius Award! I’ve been a PNB subscriber for over 10 years and have been delighted with the new vigor that Boal has brought to the company.
don’t worry, no one listens to you anyway, you hack