Houston Ballet: Romeo And Juliet -
Wortham Center, Houston, Texas, 1 March –
Australian Stanton Welch is now in his 12th year as artistic director of the Houston Ballet in Texas. In that time he has established a reputation as a choreographer of considerable note -- and one of few who can produce full-length narrative ballets. (He is also still resident choreographer for the Australian Ballet, and his La Bayadere was performed by that company last year.)
There are a number of connections between Australia and Houston. Steven Woodgate, a former senior soloist with the Australian Ballet, is now ballet master with Houston, while Aussies Andrew Murphy, Joel Woellner and Rhys James Kosakowski are in the company. Houston Ballet was also the company where Li Cunxin, now artistic director of the Queensland Ballet, first found a home when he defected from China, and where he met his Australian wife, Mary McKendry.
Welch's first major work for Houston for this year is a new Romeo and Juliet, the first new production of this ballet in 28 years. It is a big event - on the Saturday matinee George Snr and Barbara Bush showed up! Welch is in the enviable position of having the whole production underwritten by a local wealthy couple -- oil baron Ted Barr and his wife Melza, ballet fans who admire Welch's ambitions for the company. The set and costume design is by internationally acclaimed Italian designer Robert Guidi de Bagno and is a feast for the eyes, all shimmering colour and elegant, Renaissance-inspired frescoes.
It can be difficult to watch a well-known classic like Romeo and Juliet objectively - your viewing is inevitably coloured by your familiarity with what went before, and particularly the seminal versions by Cranko and MacMillan. You have your favourite sections, you know what music should go with which dance, and so on. I watched Welch's R&J four times in four days and each time I came to appreciate it more. By the final viewing I was convinced his is a masterful interpretation.
Rather than go for a flashy "relevant" modern adaptation, Welch has returned to the source, the Shakespeare play, where he has found new riches. While he has kept the overall structure of the Prokofiev ballet intact, he has added some interesting plot points and characters.
There are three, rather than two houses -- Montague, Capulet and Escalus -- the latter to which Mercutio belongs, along with Paris (Juliet's unwelcome suitor), and Prince Escalus, who attempts to mediate between the families.
The ballet begins showing Romeo besotted, not with Juliet, but another woman from the rival Montague family. It is in search of her that he sneaks into the ball, but quickly falls for Juliet instead.
There are more minor characters: for example, the three friends -- Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio, expand to include Balthasar, who shares Mercutio's comic responsibilities. The Nurse is on pointe and enjoys a tipple. In the balcony pas de deux, Romeo proposes, sealing the lovers' commitment. It is indeed an impetuous love! The character of Friar Lawrence is joined by Friar John, who is the one responsible for delivering Juliet's letter to Romeo. He is given a scene showing how his attempts are thwarted -- a crucial plot moment that is sometimes overlooked in other versions. In the final death scene, Juliet wakes up just the moment before Romeo dies, so he realises his terrible mistake.
Welch's forte is not so much in innovative dance vocabulary. Where he excels, certainly in this case, is in the overall cleverness of his stagecraft, the way he moves scenes fluidly from one to another and blends the story with dance. He avoids discrete scenes or dances that stop-start the action or require applause -- instead the dancing bubbles up out of the action, the solos out of the groups, always keeping up the momentum. On every part of the stage something is going on that adds to the detail of the story and vibrancy to the scene.
The sword fighting is exciting and dangerous, and the deaths shocking and surprising -- the audience gasped at Tybalt's death at every performance I saw. I was especially impressed by the build-up of tension between the families -- the niggling and jibing of the men that escalates into violence. But the ballet is funny, too, with a number of laugh-out-loud moments. A lot of the story is conveyed in mime, but the gestures are mostly natural, easy to understand and not over-stagey.
While the story is told with remarkable deftness, there is a danger that some of the extra detail might confuse an audience not familiar with the story. Some moments happen rather suddenly and might benefit from longer development, such as Romeo's first sight of Juliet. Of all characters, I felt Juliet was shortchanged by the brevity of her solo -- deprived of a chance to fully establish her character.
The Houston Ballet is an impressive ensemble. The men are consistently strong. They all seem to be able turn like tops; and as a group they are neat, precise and manly. Both women and men dance with freshness and vigour and technical precision. The partnering is outstanding -- all the three casts I saw danced the spectacular balcony pas de deux with apparent ease, despite the lavishness of presage lifts and split-second catches.
In his opening night cast Welch had the perfect leading couple in Karina Gonzalez and Connor Walsh. They are a good-looking pair, technically sure, and both captured the ecstatic rapture of shy young love. In another cast, Sarah Webb, though engagingly cheeky as the young Juliet, was a bit bland, though her Romeo, Jared Matthews, was an attractive character. My favourite Juliet was Melody Mennite. She brought tears to the eyes of not just this hardened critic but some of the men in the audience around me. Her dashing Romeo was principal Ian Casady. Derek Dunn was unfailingly brilliant as Balthasar, tossing off multiple turns every performance without a wobble, while Oliver Halkowich as Benvolio was similarly dazzling. The many other secondary roles were equally impressive -- with Simon Ball's furious, autocratic Prince Escalus particularly noteworthy.
After all these centuries the story of Romeo and Juliet is more appreciated than ever. It doesn't need updated settings to make its relevance understood. Welch's version adds a little fresh flavour while honouring the tradition. Bravo.
Karen van Ulzen
Editor
Dance Australia