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    Romeo and Juliet

    Romeo and Juliet Video clip

    Ballet San Jose

    February 27-March 7, 2010

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    This spectacular full-length production has been hailed as one of the finest of its kind anywhere in the world of ballet and theater. All the beauty, humor, adventure and tragedy of the frightening urgency of youth is danced to the brilliant and emotive score of Sergei Prokofiev, performed live by the Symphony Silicon Valley.

    David Guthrie's elaborate and sumptuous sets and costumes, and Kenneth Keith's dramatic use of light and shadow recreate the charm and danger of old Verona where star-crossed lovers are broken apart by their feuding families. Dennis Nahat's theatrically intimate choreography grips the senses and compels us to believe again in love at first sight.

    This is Ballet on a grand scale with forty-five dancers, full symphony orchestra and three-acts of glorious spectacle featuring lavish masked balls, electrifying sword-fights, and secret rendezvous culminating in one of the most moving tragedies in stage history. Ballet San Jose proves that love needs no words.

    • Ticket Info

      Tickets: $30-$85

      Info Phone: 408-288-2800

      Buy tickets

    • Dates & Times

      Dates:
      February 27-March 7, 2010

      Times:
      Thurs-Sat: 8pm
      Sun: 1:30pm

    • Venue Info

      San Jose Center for the Performing Arts

      255 Almaden Boulevard San Jose, CA 95113

      Full map and directions

    • Accessibility Info
      • Wheelchair Access
      • Assisted Listening System

    • NOTE: We do our best to ensure all information is accurate. However it's a good idea to visit the official website or call the venue to verify the information.

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    • Member Reviews

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      • Event Name: Romeo and Juliet
        "True Romance...plumbs the depths of young love"
        Comment posted by: Excerpts from Metro review, March 15, 06 from San Jose, CA USA, Jan 07, 2010

        Dennis Nahat's Romeo and Juliet balances subtext with clarity and blends drama with a sense of comic relief. Merchant carts fore, bridge and balcony aft, the town square hosts many a humorous scene... Expand

        Dennis Nahat's Romeo and Juliet balances subtext with clarity and blends drama with a sense of comic relief. Merchant carts fore, bridge and balcony aft, the town square hosts many a humorous scene featuring the ensemble cast in a symphony of action on all scenic levels. Juliet's nurse comes to deliver a message to Romeo [and] the jovial prankster Mercutio taunts the nurse...at one point [his] face pops out from under her billowy skirts. Juliet playfully refuses to give up her doll to her mother [but soon] Romeo will bring an end to her carefree life. Later in her chamber, she and Romeo dance a pas de deux undercut by ominous, ever-present low horns. Prokofiev's plodding, horn-driven music accompanies a variety of spectacular death scenes and fight scenes--Mercutio's slow, unsuspected death, Romeo's death by poison, Juliet's suicidal stabbing. This production rewards our familiarity with the poplar tale of the star-crossed lovers by instilling countless layers of revelatory treasures. Collapse

      • Event Name: Romeo and Juliet
        "R&J Plays Out Its Dramatic Heritage"
        Comment posted by: Excerpts from independent review of Dean Speer from Seattle, WA USA, Jan 07, 2010

        I always find it a treat to visit the exotic locale of San Jose and enjoy Ballet San Jose. It's an attractive company with a deep array of talent, led by Artistic Director, Dennis Nahat. Nahat knows... Expand

        I always find it a treat to visit the exotic locale of San Jose and enjoy Ballet San Jose. It's an attractive company with a deep array of talent, led by Artistic Director, Dennis Nahat. Nahat knows how to tell a story. His handling of the material is clear and his choices each made for the elucidation of the story, with the dancing contributing to the narrative and emotional impact of this timeless and tragic love story. He also re-ordered some of the musical selections, which he felt made better sense in a different flow--and the success of the ballet shows he was right. While keeping the story moving, he also gives us pleanty of dancing--from townspeople and Gypsies to the nobility. I liked his treatment of the Capulet's ballroom scene which has probably some of the most famous music in it...and especially appreciate that he has the nobles do more than just strut about and drop pillows on the floor as they do in the original Bolshoi production. BSJ gives spice to your balletic diet. Collapse

      • Event Name: Romeo and Juliet
        "An exquisite version of "Romeo and Juliet'"
        Comment posted by: Excerpts from San Mateo Times review 3/11/06 from San Mateo, CA USA, Jan 06, 2010

        Although there have been a number of composers who have written music for ballet versions of the immortal Shakespeare play [Romeo and Juliet], none has surpassed in beauty the music of Russian... Expand

        Although there have been a number of composers who have written music for ballet versions of the immortal Shakespeare play [Romeo and Juliet], none has surpassed in beauty the music of Russian composer Sergei Prokfiev. And it is possible there is no better choreographic realization than that of the company's artistic director, Dennis Nahat. Shakespeare created great plays written for actors using words. Nahat's "actors" tell the same story employing only dance movements. And he is master of setting beautiful stage tableaus that could be photographed as medieval paintings. In the unlikely event anyone in the audience did not know the tragic love story of Romeo and Juliet, Nahat makes the plot very clear. Not a gesture or movement is excessive, wasted or missed. The richly colored sets and costumes by David Guthrie enrich the production under Kenneth Keith's moody lighting designs. Magical and rare. Collapse

      • Event Name: Romeo and Juliet
        "'Romeo' leaps to life in San Jose."
        Comment posted by: Excerpts from San Francisco review, March 11, 2006 from San Francisco, CA USA, Jan 06, 2010

        Throughout, the sets and costumes are superb. The skies are blue, with puffy white clouds on the backdrop and also behind various altars, suggesting some kind of omnipresent fates pulling the story... Expand

        Throughout, the sets and costumes are superb. The skies are blue, with puffy white clouds on the backdrop and also behind various altars, suggesting some kind of omnipresent fates pulling the story forward. The rooflines suggest Verona and also the missions of California. The ballroom is festive yet darkly foreboding. The costumes are wonderful: deep jewel tones for the ladies' ball gowns; innocent, palest pinks and sheer whites for Juliet's; and, in the fight scenes, red outfits for the Capulet gang and pale blue for the Montagues. Give Nahat full credit for understanding the complexity of Sergei Prokofiev's score (performed beautifully by a full orchestra conducted by Dwight Oltman). Nahat's production embodies the sweep as well as the underlying resonance of Shakespeare's tragedy. The moment that captured the full sorrow of "Romeo and Juliet" was when the bodies of Tybalt and Mercutio were carried from the stage, leaving two sets of grieving parents. And we still had one act to go. Collapse

      • Event Name: Romeo and Juliet
        "Excerpts from Mercury News review"
        Comment posted by: From San Jose Mercury News, March 11, 2006 from San Jose, CA USA, Jan 06, 2010

        This much-beloved ballet, which has been called "a warm-weather 'Nutcracker,'" is most often set to Sergei Prokofiev's 1934 score, which was rejected by the Bolshoi Ballet as "undanceable." The... Expand

        This much-beloved ballet, which has been called "a warm-weather 'Nutcracker,'" is most often set to Sergei Prokofiev's 1934 score, which was rejected by the Bolshoi Ballet as "undanceable." The naysayers had a point. Prokofiev's glorious music is so tightly prescriptive that it can--and has--put a straitjacket on more than one choreographer's imagination. Not on [Dennis] Nahat, who has telescoped, expanded and reconnected the score for what just may be the most textured and finely detailed "Romeo" in dance. Instead of the usual awkward breaks in the action, Nahat's narrative unspools as liquidly as water following its natural path. The beauties of this not-to-be-missed production are almost too many. The wedding is a real ceremony...Everyone, even minor roles, is a multidemensional character. At three hours, this "Romeo" is long. Yet I wouldn't give up a single moment. Ballet SJ's Romeo is a classic. Collapse

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