Last Wednesday, I enjoyed my first ballet show in my life and the preeminent performance overturned my views of ballet. The show was split up into two parts, Chopiniana and Romeo and Juliet. I didn’t learn much about Chopiniana, but for the second play, I once read through this well-known story written by the prestigious English playwright William Shakespeare. The former was more like a fairytale, compared with the tragic love story in the latter. Although abundant differences can be figured out between these two shows, both of them conveyed the real emotions to me. In the classic love story, the sweat romance of the lovers, along with the intensive animosity of the enemies struck a chord deeply in my heart, despite the fact that I couldn’t catch the nuanced facial expressions of dancers. Likewise, in Chopiniana, when the female dancers in fairy-like dresses circled around the young man in agile and graceful movements, I was stepping into a romantic dream.
Not Until last Wednesday did my perspective of ballet show alter. Ballet show was always elegant and gentle in my mind. However, in Romeo and Juliet, the appealing sword fights indicate that the ballet isn’t normally as soft as I thought before. The incredible score composed by Sergei Prokofiev matched the tense atmosphere flawlessly. Background music is an essential part of the ballet show. Many composers have created pieces especially for ballet, like Prokofiev I mentioned above. Since dancers are not able to have conversations on the stage, music becomes one of their means to replace the dialogue. I couldn’t help holding my breath while watching the combat between two robust young men. I realized that the hatred in two families cannot be resolved anymore after one of the young men was killed in the brawl. The enmity is in tremendous contrast to the steadfast affection of Romeo and Juliet. The entire play was proceeding by depicting various conflicts. The quarrel occurred when Juliet opposed her father’s choice of her fiancé. I can easily tell the resolution of Juliet when she rejected the rich fiancé through her firm pace of dance. Sometimes, the dancers were utilizing an exaggerated manner to express their feelings. At the scene that Romeo met Juliet secretly in her bedroom, their exuberant runs and jumps demonstrated how delightful they were. The performance was delicate, whereas some defects did exist. The death of Romeo and Juliet was abrupt so that the tragic ending was not stunning enough. Although I knew that Juliet pretended to be dead at the first time, it was kind of hilarious to see the dancers stand up and lie down several times.
I had practiced ballet for a year since my third grade. I kept complaining about the training because ballet has a very strict standard for almost every movement. It is physically demanding, requiring moving your head, arms and legs at the same time. And what’s more, your gift in sense of rhythm matters. That’s why I admire those ballerinas a lot. Their brilliant body language provides the audience with amazing journeys in various stories. In spite of some little weaknesses, this ballet show was successful in general.
