Mauro Bigonzetti: «Romeo and Juliett»

Shakespeare is not a matter to be taken lightly, after so many choreographers have told this dancing story in so many different ways. But Mauro Bigonzetti decided to go ahead and try out his own version for the strong dancers of Aterballetto, to contribute to their annual requirement of a full-length program.

First of all, he chose to assume that audiences are already familiar with Shakespeare’s tragic love story, making it possible – in a contemporary ballet – to refer only allusively to the old yet still topical play which is interlaced with passion and death.

This new “Romeo and Juliet,” premiered in Reggio Emilia during Red Festival, is a one-act piece, without specific narrative tasks. Boys and girls, dressed only in black underwear, giving a slightly fetish taste, perform the characters in multiple so that their identification is up to the audience – an individual dancer could be Mercutio, Benvolio or any other member of the two feuding Italian families. Moreover, Bigonzetti took Prokofiev’s score but – with the help of Bruno Moretti, the choreographer's longstanding collaborator – changed the order of the titles in order to avoid the usual movement-sound connection. For ...