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Source: Folger Shakespeare Library

ROMEO
He jests at scars that never felt a wound.
Enter Juliet above.
But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the East, and Juliet is the sun.
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief 5
That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she.
Be not her maid since she is envious.
Her vestal livery is but sick and green,
And none but fools do wear it. Cast it off.
It is my lady. O, it is my love! 10
O, that she knew she were!
She speaks, yet she says nothing. What of that?
Her eye discourses; I will answer it.
I am too bold. 'Tis not to me she speaks.
Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven, 15
Having some business, do entreat her eyes
To twinkle in their spheres till they return.
What if her eyes were there, they in her head?
The brightness of her cheek would shame those
stars 20
As daylight doth a lamp; her eye in heaven
Would through the airy region stream so bright
That birds would sing and think it were not night.
See how she leans her cheek upon her hand.
O, that I were a glove upon that hand, 25
That I might touch that cheek!

Here it is, Shmoopsters-the famous balcony scene!

Romeo is wandering aimlessly around the Capulet backyard when you-know-who appears on the balcony. Romeo gasps, and then launches into a paragraph's worth of great pick up lines. "You shine like the sun." "Your eyes sparkle like stars." "I wish I could be the glove you have on your hand so you would lean your cheek against me that way." It's some seriously good stuff, especially since it was written in the late 16th century, before most of that stuff had been said a gajillion times.

JULIET Ay me.

Juliet sighs, and Romeo loses it all over again.

ROMEO, aside She speaks.
O, speak again, bright angel, for thou art
As glorious to this night, being o'er my head, 30
As is a wingèd messenger of heaven
Unto the white-upturnèd wond'ring eyes
Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him
When he bestrides the lazy puffing clouds
And sails upon the bosom of the air. 35

JULIET
O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name,
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.

Juliet wonders aloud, "Why does the guy I love have to be a Montague?" She wishes he could give up his name-or she could give up hers.

ROMEO, aside
Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this? 40

Romeo's tempted to jump out and speak right away, but he waits long enough to hear Juliet gush about him. She ponders the meaning of names and decides they don't really matter. You can call a rose a skunk, but it's still going to smell good. And Romeo would still be absolute perfection, whether his last name was Montague, Baggins, or Potter. In fact, Juliet thinks he should trade in his last name and take her instead.

JULIET
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy.
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face. O, be some other name
Belonging to a man. 45
What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet.
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name, 50
And, for thy name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.

ROMEO I take thee at thy word.
Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized.
Henceforth I never will be Romeo. 55

This time Romeo can't hold back. He jumps out of the bushes and yells, "Deal!" But he doesn't want to tell Juliet his name. It's so hateful to him he'd tear it up if he had it written on a piece of paper.

ROMEO By a name
I know not how to tell thee who I am.
My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself 60
Because it is an enemy to thee.
Had I it written, I would tear the word.

JULIET
My ears have yet not drunk a hundred words
Of thy tongue's uttering, yet I know the sound.
Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague? 65

Juliet doesn't need to hear Romeo's name. She recognizes his voice even though she hasn't heard even a hundred words from him. (Which is totally accurate-good counting, Juliet! Remember, he only spoke 67 words to her before they kissed, and then the Nurse broke it up.) Still, Juliet wants to know how he got over the high walls of the orchard.

ROMEO
Neither, fair maid, if either thee dislike.

JULIET
How camest thou hither, tell me, and wherefore?
The orchard walls are high and hard to climb,
And the place death, considering who thou art,
If any of my kinsmen find thee here. 70

ROMEO
With love's light wings did I o'erperch these walls,
For stony limits cannot hold love out,
And what love can do, that dares love attempt.
Therefore thy kinsmen are no stop to me.

Romeo says he flew over the wall " on the wings of love."

JULIET
If they do see thee, they will murder thee. 75

Next, Juliet warns Romeo that he'll be killed if any of her relatives see him. Romeo, slick as ever, says her eyes are more dangerous than swords. Besides, he'd rather be killed now than have to go on living without her love. (If Romeo had lived in the 1980s, he could have made a killing writing pop songs.)

ROMEO
Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye
Than twenty of their swords. Look thou but sweet,
And I am proof against their enmity.

JULIET
I would not for the world they saw thee here.

ROMEO
I have night's cloak to hide me from their eyes, 80
And, but thou love me, let them find me here.
My life were better ended by their hate
Than death proroguèd, wanting of thy love.

JULIET
By whose direction found'st thou out this place?

When Juliet asks Romeo how he found his way to her backyard, he says he was guided by love-and he would have traveled much further to get to her if he had to. Over the sea, even.

ROMEO
By love, that first did prompt me to inquire. 85
He lent me counsel, and I lent him eyes.
I am no pilot; yet, wert thou as far
As that vast shore washed with the farthest sea,
I should adventure for such merchandise.

JULIET
Thou knowest the mask of night is on my face, 90
Else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek
For that which thou hast heard me speak tonight.
Fain would I dwell on form; fain, fain deny
What I have spoke. But farewell compliment.
Dost thou love me? I know thou wilt say "Ay," 95
And I will take thy word. Yet, if thou swear'st,
Thou mayst prove false. At lovers' perjuries,
They say, Jove laughs. O gentle Romeo,
If thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully.
Or, if thou thinkest I am too quickly won, 100
I'll frown and be perverse and say thee nay,
So thou wilt woo, but else not for the world.
In truth, fair Montague, I am too fond,
And therefore thou mayst think my havior light.
But trust me, gentleman, I'll prove more true 105
Than those that have more coying to be strange.
I should have been more strange, I must confess,
But that thou overheard'st ere I was ware
My true-love passion. Therefore pardon me,
And not impute this yielding to light love, 110
Which the dark night hath so discoverèd.

Juliet is glad it's night so Romeo can't see how embarrassed she is that he overheard her gushing about him. Awkward! Part of her feels like she should put on an act and pretend she's not interested in him, because that's the way girls in her social class are supposed to act. But it's kind of too late for that, and she doesn't want to play games. She wants Romeo to know her love is real, and she wants to know if he feels the same way.

JULIET
O, swear not by the moon, th' inconstant moon,
That monthly changes in her circled orb, 115
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.

When Romeo swears on the moon that he loves her, Juliet says, "The moon? You've got to be kidding. The moon changes shape every night. You can't swear by something so unreliable."

ROMEO
What shall I swear by?

Romeo wants to know what he should swear by, but Juliet tells him to slow his roll. There's no need to rush into anything. They should just take their time and see where this goes. (Famous. last. words.)

JULIET Do not swear at all.
Or, if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self,
Which is the god of my idolatry, 120
And I'll believe thee.

ROMEO If my heart's dear love-

JULIET
Well, do not swear. Although I joy in thee,
I have no joy of this contract tonight.
It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden, 125
Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be
Ere one can say "It lightens." Sweet, good night.
This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath,
May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet.
Good night, good night. As sweet repose and rest 130
Come to thy heart as that within my breast.

ROMEO
O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?

JULIET
What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?

ROMEO
Th' exchange of thy love's faithful vow for mine.

JULIET
I gave thee mine before thou didst request it, 135
And yet I would it were to give again.

ROMEO
Wouldst thou withdraw it? For what purpose, love?

JULIET
But to be frank and give it thee again.
And yet I wish but for the thing I have.
My bounty is as boundless as the sea, 140
My love as deep. The more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite.
Nurse calls from within.
I hear some noise within. Dear love, adieu.-
Anon, good nurse.-Sweet Montague, be true.
Stay but a little; I will come again. She exits. 145

ROMEO
O blessèd, blessèd night! I am afeard,
Being in night, all this is but a dream,
Too flattering sweet to be substantial.

Romeo isn't as keen on waiting as Juliet is. He wants her to pledge her love to him (and maybe give him a goodnight kiss) right here, right now. Juliet has to run inside when the Nurse calls, but she tells Romeo not to go too far-she'll be right back.

Reenter Juliet above.

JULIET
Three words, dear Romeo, and good night indeed.
If that thy bent of love be honorable, 150
Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow,
By one that I'll procure to come to thee,
Where and what time thou wilt perform the rite,
And all my fortunes at thy foot I'll lay
And follow thee my lord throughout the world. 155

JULIET By and by, I come.- 160
To cease thy strife and leave me to my grief.
Tomorrow will I send.

ROMEO So thrive my soul-

JULIET A thousand times good night.

Juliet tells Romeo that if he's serious, they should make it official. In other words, if he wants to marry her, he should propose. ASAP. Then she says goodnight and leaves again.

ROMEO
A thousand times the worse to want thy light. 165
Love goes toward love as schoolboys from their
books,
But love from love, toward school with heavy looks.
Going.

Romeo doesn't want to leave. He feels the same way leaving Juliet as young boys feel about going to school: it's a drag.

Enter Juliet above again.

JULIET
Hist, Romeo, hist! O, for a falc'ner's voice
To lure this tassel-gentle back again! 170
Bondage is hoarse and may not speak aloud,
Else would I tear the cave where Echo lies
And make her airy tongue more hoarse than mine
With repetition of "My Romeo!"

ROMEO
It is my soul that calls upon my name. 175
How silver-sweet sound lovers' tongues by night,
Like softest music to attending ears.

ROMEO My dear.

JULIET What o'clock tomorrow 180
Shall I send to thee?

ROMEO By the hour of nine.

Juliet comes rushing back out just as Romeo is starting to leave, and they finalize their messaging plans for tomorrow.

ROMEO
Let me stand here till thou remember it. 185

It's pretty clear at this point that Romeo and Juliet have run out of things to talk about. They start babbling just so they don't have to leave each other-kind of a "You hang up," "No, you hang up," deal.

JULIET
'Tis almost morning. I would have thee gone, 190
And yet no farther than a wanton's bird,
That lets it hop a little from his hand,
Like a poor prisoner in his twisted gyves,
And with a silken thread plucks it back again,
So loving-jealous of his liberty. 195

ROMEO
I would I were thy bird.

JULIET Sweet, so would I.
Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing.
Good night, good night. Parting is such sweet
sorrow 200
That I shall say "Good night" till it be morrow.

Of course, in Shakespearean terms "You hang up" comes off much more poetically.

If this went down 400 years later, these kids would be running off to Vegas together, but this is Shakespeare. Juliet finally drags herself away to bed and Romeo hightails it off to Friar Lawrence, his favorite priest, to figure out the wedding plans.

ROMEO
Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in thy breast.
Would I were sleep and peace so sweet to rest.
Hence will I to my ghostly friar's close cell,
His help to crave, and my dear hap to tell. 205

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scene 2 of romeo and juliet modern english

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Romeo and Juliet: Act 2, Scene 2 Translation

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Source: Folger Shakespeare Library ROMEO He jests at scars that never felt a wound. Enter Juliet above. But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?It is the East, and Juliet is the sun.Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,Who is already sick and pale with grief 5 That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she.Be not her maid since she is envious.Her vestal livery is but sick and green,And none but fools do wear it.

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Go if: You can't resist a tragic love story. New Moon is your favorite book of the entire Twilight Saga and you can quote a certain passage from Act II, Scene VI of Shakespeare's play by heart (don't worry we won't tell anyone). You've never been to the ballet and want to start with a tale that's easy to follow in dance form.

Skip if: Get thee gone, thou artless idle-headed pignut! (Ok, so you're not a fan of The Bard)
Dream Casts We asked our twitter followers and they said:
Juliet - Gelsey Kirkland, Yevgenia Obraztsova, Maria Kochetkova, Miriam Ould-Braham, Silvia Azzoni, Julie Kent, Alessandra Ferri, Alina Cojocaru

Romeo - Anthony Dowell, Vladimir Shklyarov, Igor Kolb, Jason Reilly, Friedemann Vogel, Angel Corella, Robert Fairchild, Steven McRae
Background The Leonid Lavrovsky version
The idea for Romeo and Juliet as ballet came originally from Sergei Radlov, the Artistic Director of the Kirov (now the Mariinsky) around 1934. He developed the scenario together with theatre critic Adrian Piotrovsky and commissioned the music from one of his favorite Chess partners: Sergei Prokofiev (who had never before composed for a full-length ballet).

Prokofiev finished the score on September, 1935 but the production was stalled when the communist regime did not accept the happy ending he had added to the score*.

Further political problems saw the project shelved and transferred to the Bolshoi where it was deemed unsuitable. The ballet was eventually salvaged by the Kirov and, on January 11, 1940, Romeo and Juliet wasfinally given its premiere, with choreography by Artistic Director Leonid Lavrovsky. Legendary Galina Ulanova was the original Juliet and Konstantin Sergeyev her Romeo. The ballet was hailed a success but it only became a phenomenon six years later when it was staged in The Bolshoi Theatre (December 28, 1946), resulting in Lavrovsky's appointment as Artistic Director of the Bolshoi.

The Bolshoi toured London for the first time and staged Lavrovsky's Romeo and Juliet in the Covent Garden Stage (October 3, 1956) to great acclaim. Margot Fonteyn expressed she had "never seen anything like it" and budding choreographer John Cranko was so inspired by the ballet that he soon started to plan his own version.
The John Cranko version
Cranko's first staging of Romeo & Juliet was for the ballet company of La Scala in Milan in July 26, 1958. It was danced in an open amphiteatre in Venice. Designs were by Nicola Benois and the role of Juliet was danced by then 21 year-old Carla Fracci. Further revising the ballet Cranko staged itÂ in 1962 for his own company, The Stuttgart Ballet. JÃ¼rgen Rose was in charge of the designs and young Brazilian ballerina Marcia HaydÃ©e, soon to become Cranko's muse, was cast in the role of Juliet, with Richard Cragun as Romeo.

Cranko's staging is renowned for its strong corps de ballet dances, which set the atmosphere. The first scene takes place in the cramped streets of Verona, so both Montagues and Capulets are incapable of avoiding each other. In Act II the fight erupts amongst peasants on a harvest festival, with everyoneÂ involved and fruits being spilled around.Â At that time Cranko's company were still developing their technique and identity so the choreography is relatively simple. When it comes to the various pas de deux one can see Lavrovsky's influence in the very Soviet style of partnering with lifts and tosses.

This version of Romeo and Juliet remains very popular and besides being a regular staple at the Stuttgart Ballet, it is also in repertory at The National Ballet of Canada, The Australian Ballet, Finnish National Ballet, The Joffrey, Houston Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Pennsylvannia Ballet, among others.
The Kenneth MacMillan version
Kenneth MacMillan, a close friend of Cranko's from their dancing days in the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet, was inspired to create his own version for The Royal Ballet after seeing it staged by The Stuttgart Ballet. An opportunity came when The Royal Opera House failed to secure a deal with the Bolshoi to exchange performance rights for Ashton's La Fille Mal GardÃ©e against Lavrovsky's Romeo and Juliet. Ninette de Valois had also asked Sir Frederick Ashton to stage the version originally choreographed for The Royal Danish Ballet in 1955 but he feared that something created for a smaller theatre would look modest compared to the scale of the Russian production.Â Ashton, then Artistic Director, suggested to the Board of Directors that MacMillan should undertake the task of creating a new version.

MacMillan had devised a balcony scene pas de deux for Lynn Seymour and Christopher Gable for a feature on Canadian television and once he received the go-ahead he started working on his first full-length ballet, nowadays one of Romeo and Juliet's most definitive versions.

Designer Nicholas Georgiadis was inspired by Franco Zeffirelli's production of the Shakespearean tragedy for the Old Vic, in which the Capulets lived in a big fortress-like mansion. MacMillan wanted his ballet to be more realistic than romantic, with added contemporary touches. He wanted the young lovers to die painfully and to drop the reconciliation between Capulets and Montagues at the end of the play providing a different angle from the Lavrovsky & Cranko versions.

The ballet was choreographed on Seymour and Gable as Juliet and Romeo. As usual, MacMillan explored the role of the outsider in his portrayal of Juliet, a headstrong and opinionated girl who breaks away from her family. He started with the pas de deux (the highlights of this staging) and drew on the full company plus extras to set the town scenes.

While work was in progress Covent Garden management delivered the blow that Fonteyn and Nureyev would be first cast Juliet and Romeo, a shock to MacMillan, to Ashton (who had expected them as a first cast for the US tourÂ only) and to dancers Seymour and Gable who had to teach their roles and resign themselves to a lower spot on the bill.

MacMillan's pleas to Covent Garden management to keep Seymour and Gable in the premiere were in vain. His Romeo and Juliet premiered on February 9, 1965, with Fonteyn and Nureyev taking 43 curtain calls over a 40 minute applause. In the US it quickly became the best known version of the Prokofiev ballet. Besides the Royal Ballet, the ballet is also part of the regular repertory of American Ballet Theatre, The Royal Swedish Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet (with designs by Paul Andrews).
Story
You probably don't need our help with this one. Regardless of version the storyline remains more or less the same:
Act I Scene 1. The Market Place in Verona
It's early hours in Verona. Romeo unsucessfully tries to woo Rosaline and is consoled by his friends Mercutio and Benvolio. As the market awakens and street trading starts a quarrel breaks out between the Montagues and the Capulets. Tybalt, Lord Capulet's nephew, provokes Romeo's group and the sword fighting begins with both Lord Montague and Lord Capulet joining in. Escalus, the Prince (or Duke) of Verona, enters and commands the families to cease fighting and issues a death penalty for any further bloodshed.
Scene 2. Juliet and her Nurse at the Capulet House
Lord Capulet's only daughter Juliet is playing with her nurse. Her parents enter her chambers and inform Juliet of her impending engagement to the wealthy noblement Paris to whom she is to be formally introduced at the evening's ball. In MacMillan's version Juliet's introduction to Paris happens at this point.
Scene 3. Outside the Capulet House
Guests are seen arriving at the Capulets'. Romeo,Â still in pursuit of Rosaline, makes his way into the ball in disguise accompanied by Mercutio and Benvolio.
Scenes 4 & 5. The Ballroom & Outside the Capulet House
At the ball all eyes are on Juliet as she dances with her friends. Romeo becomes so entranced by her that he completely ignores Mercutio's attempts to distract him. As Juliet starts to notice Romeo his mask falls. Juliet is immediately bewitched but Tybalt recognises Romeo and orders him to leave. Lord Capulet intervenes and welcomes Romeo and his friends as guests. At this point in MacMillan's stagingwe see inebriated guests leaving and Lord Capulet stopping Tybalt from pursuing Romeo.
Scene 6. Juliet's Balcony
Later that night Juliet is unable to sleep and stands on her balcony thinking about Romeo. Just then he appears on the garden below and they both dance a passionate pas de deux where they express their mutual feelings.

Act II Scenes 1 & 2. The Market Place & Friar Laurence's Chapel

As festivities are being held at the marketplace Romeo daydreams about getting married to Juliet. His reverie is broken when Juliet's nurse makes her way through the crowds bringing him Juliet's letter with the acceptance to his proposal. The young couple is secretly married by Friar Laurence, who hopes the union will end the conflict between their respective families.
Scene 3. The Market Place
Tybalt enters interruping the festivities. He provokes Romeo, who now avoids the duel, realising he is now part of Juliet's family. Mercutio is willing to engage with Tybalt and, in vain, Romeo attempts to stop them. Mercutio is fatally wounded by Tybalt. Romeo seeking to avenge his friend's death finally yields to Tybalt's provocations and kills him. Romeo must now flee before being discovered by Prince of Verona. Curtains close as Lady Capulet grieves over Tybalt's dead body and her breakdown is particularly emphasised in Cranko's staging.

Act III Scene 1. Juliet's Bedroom

Romeo has spent his last night in Verona with Juliet but as dawn arrives he must flee for Mantua despite her pleas. To Juliet's dismay Lord and Lady Capulet appear together with Paris to start preparations for the wedding. Juliet refuses to marry Paris and Lord Capulet threatens to disown her. In despair, Juliet seeks Friar Laurence's counsel.
Scenes 2 & 3. Friar Laurence's Chapel & Juliet's Bedroom
Juliet begs Friar Laurence for help. He gives Juliet a sleeping potion that will make her fall into a deathlike sleep. This will make everyone believe Juliet is dead while the Friar will send for Romeo to rescue her. Juliet returns home and agrees to marry Paris. She drinks the potion and falls unconscious. Her friends and parents arrive the next morning and discover her lifeless.
Scene 4. The Capulet Family Crypt
Romeo has heard of Juliet's death (in the Lavrovsky version we see Romeo break down in grief as the news are delivered to him) and has returned to Verona without having received Friar Laurence's message. He enters the crypt disguised as a monk where he finds Paris by Juliet's body. Stunned by grief, Romeo kills Paris (this is absent from Lavrovsky's staging). Still believing Juliet to be dead Romeo drinks a vial of poison and collapses. Juliet awakes to find Romeo dead beside her. She stabs herself to join Romeo in death.
Epilogue (Lavrovsky version)
Both Montagues and Capulets gather together and reconcile before their children's bodies.
Videos: Other versions
Prokofiev's masterful composition for Romeo and Juliet is now better known than any other but a number of earlier and later productions of the ballet have been set to different scores and choreography:

Antony Tudor's Romeo and Juliet for Ballet Theatre, now ABT (1943), set to various pieces of music by Frederick Delius.

Sir Frederick Ashton's Romeo and Juliet for The Royal Danish Ballet (1955). This is a signature Ashton piece with none of Lavrovsky's influence (as Ashton had not yet seen that staging). Clips of the revival by London Festival Ballet with Katherine Healy as Juliet can be found here

Maurice BÃ©jart'sÂ Romeo and Juliet (1966). Set to the music of Berlioz this version was presented at the Cirque Royal, Brussels. A video featuring Suzanne Farrell as Juliet and Jorge Donn as Romeo can be found here

Rudolf Nureyev's version for the London Festival Ballet (1977). Nureyev later reworked this same version for the Paris Opera Ballet (1984). The ballet is available on DVD with Monique Loudieres as Juliet and Manuel Legris as Romeo. Clips can be seen here

John Neumeier's for the Frankfurt Ballet (1971). This version was restaged for his own Hamburg Ballet in 1974. It has also been further revised and staged by The Royal Danish Ballet. Clips here

Yuri Grigorovich 's version for the Bolshoi (1982) set to Prokofiev's score. This version is still danced by the company.

Jean Christophe Maillot's RÃ³meo et Juliette for Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo (1996). This version has been staged by other companies, most recently by Pacific Northwest Ballet. A trailer can be found on PNBallet's YT Channel.

Peter Martins's Romeo + Juliet for NYCB (2007). A series of videos following the ballet's creative process can be found on NYCB's YT Channel.

Music
Prokofiev's score for Romeo and Juliet is considered one of the four greatest orchestral compositions for ballet (together with Tchaikovsky's scores for Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker). He originally conceived the score as 53 sections linked by the dramatic elements of the story, each section named after the characters and/or situations in the ballet.

Like Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev developed leitmotifs for the characters. There are 7 themes for Juliet varying from her playful/girlish side in Act I to romantic and dramatic themes which follow her development into a woman in love and foreshadow the impending tragedy in Act III.

A quintessential Spotify / iPod playlist should include the three orchestra suites (Opus 64bis, Opus 64ter and Opus 101)

1. Suite No 1. Folk Dance, The Street Awakens, Madrigal, The Arrival of Guests, Masks, Romeo and Juliet, Death of Tybalt.

2. Suite No 2. Montagues and Capulets, Juliet the Young Girl, Dance, Romeo and Juliet before parting, Dance of the Girls with Lilies, Romeo at Juliet's Grave.

3. Suite No 3. Romeo at the Fountain, Morning Dance, Juliet, The Nurse, Morning Serenade, The Death of Juliet.

Mini-Biography Choreography: Leonid Lavrovsky Music: Sergei Prokofiev Designs: Pyotr Williams Original Cast: Galina Ulanova as Juliet and Konstantin Sergeyev as Romeo Premiere: 11 January, 1940, Kirov Theatre, Leningrad (St. Petersburg) Choregraphy: John Cranko Music: Sergei Prokofiev Designs: JÃ¼rgen Rose Original Cast: Marcia HaydÃ©e as Juliet and Richard Crangun as Romeo Premiere: 2 December, 1962, Stuttgart Choreography: Kenneth MacMillan Music: Sergei Prokofiev Designs: Nicholas Georgiadis Original Cast: Margot Fonteyn as Juliet and Rudolf Nureyev as Romeo Premiere: 9 February, 1965 at Covent Garden, London Sources and Further Information

1. The Royal Ballet's Romeo and Juliet (Kenneth MacMillan) Programme Notes, 2007/2008 Season.

2. Romeo & Juliet entry at www.KennethMacmillan.com [link]

3. Wikipedia entry for Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet score [link]

4. Romeo and Juliet Notes (John Cranko) from National Ballet of CanadaÂ [link]

5. Notes from Tbsili Opera and Ballet Theatre [link]

6. Ballet Met Notes [link]

7. Stuttgart Ballet Performance Notes at Cal Performances [link]

8. Dedicated Romeo and Juliet. Dance review by Anna Kisselgoff. New York Times, July 1998 [link]

9. From London, a Poetic Romeo that makes others seem prosy. Dance review by Anna Kisselgoff. New York Times, 1989 [link]

10. Romeo and Juliet, Theatricality and Other Techniques of Expression by Katherine S. Healy. Following Sir Fred's Steps, Ashton's Legacy. Edited by Stephanie Jordan and AndrÃ©e Grau. Conference Proceedings, 1994 [link]

11. Opposing Houses: Judith Mackrell on visions of Romeo and Juliet from Ashton and MacMillan. Dance review, The Independent. August, 1994 [link]

*Erratum (September 2015): Whoops! We previously stated Stalin's regime had commissioned a happy ending to Prokofiev's score, when it was the other way round! (see Background)

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Go if: You can't resist a tragic love story. New Moon is your favorite book of the entire Twilight Saga and you can quote a certain passage from Act II, Scene VI of Shakespeare's play by heart (don't worry we won't tell anyone).

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Macmillan's Balcony Scene

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Romeo and Juliet Balcony Pas de Deux (Royal Ballet) - Federico Bonelli, Lauren Cuthbertson

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MacMillan had been longing to create his own Romeo and Juliet after seeing John Cranko's version for the Stuttgart Ballet. Lynn Seymour had danced Cranko's Juliet as a guest artist in Stuttgart in April 1964; MacMillan had subsequently choreographed the balcony scene pas de deux for her and Christopher Gable to perform on Canadian television during their summer break that year.

Frederick Ashton, then artistic director of the Royal Ballet, gave MacMillan the green light for the complete ballet in September 1964. The company wanted a big new three-act ballet based on the play by Shakespeare, whose 400th anniversary was celebrated in 1964. Ashton had chosen not to mount the Romeo and Juliet he had made for the Royal Danish Ballet in 1955, fearing it would suffer by comparison with the large-scale Lavrovsky production the Bolshoi Ballet had brought to the Royal Opera House. MacMillan therefore had less than five months to create his first three-act ballet, which the company hoped to include in its 1965 American tour.

He, Seymour and Gable endlessly discussed their ideas about the characters as MacMillan choreographed the key pas de deux in each act - his starting point around which the rest of the ballet would be built. He and Seymour envisaged Juliet as a headstrong, passionate girl who makes all the crucial decisions: the secret marriage, in defiance of her parents' wishes; taking Friar Lawrence's potion; joining Romeo in death. Gable's Romeo was a young man swept off his feet by love, dancing in dizzy exultation.

Romeo and his close friends, Mercutio and Benvolio, were given bravura steps that distinguished them from the street fighters in Verona's market place and the stately aristocrats in the ballroom scene. MacMillan had hitherto avoided virtuoso steps because he thought them too conventionally balletic. Only Juliet and her girlfriends are on pointe: their choreography is contrasted with character dances and verismo crowd scenes. MacMillan broke the ballet conventions of the time by having the dancing evolve from naturalistic action. Unlike Cranko's production, there are no picturesque poses for applause at the end of set-pieces. Unlike the Bolshoi production there are no spotlit entrances for the leading characters: Romeo is discovered in semi-darkness at the start of the ballet as Rosaline's anonymous suitor; Juliet's arrival at the ball in her honour goes unnoticed at first.

MacMillan wanted to show the lovers as youngsters at the mercy of a powerful patriarchal society. Georgiadis's monumental designs - unusual, then, for a ballet - emphasised the oppressive might of Juliet's surroundings. She is a small, vulnerable figure within the imposing Capulet household and, finally, laid out in the family vault. Even Friar Lawrence is to be found in a well-appointed monastery rather than a simple cell. Georgiadis and MacMillan took their inspiration from Italian Quottrocento paintings and architecture, as well as from Shakespeare. Franco Zeffirelli's 1960 production of Romeo and Juliet for the Old Vic had been another influence, with its fortress of a palazzo guarding the Capulet family's treasures - including their nubile daughter.

MacMillan borrowed from Cranko the harlots who animate the market-place scenes. It is they who get the action going in the first scene, as they roister with the three young bloods, Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio, and provoke the indignation of the townspeople. Tybalt, one of the Capulet clan, provokes a fight with the Montague faction which develops into a lethal brawl. The Prince of Verona enters to put a stop to the fighting, commanding the warring factions to lay down their swords.

The second scene introduces Juliet, playing childishly with her nurse. Her parents enter with Paris, her intended bridegroom. When they leave, the nurse tells her gently that her girlhood is over.

The Capulets are giving a ball to mark Juliet's entry into Veronese society. Romeo and his two friends decide to crash it, wearing masks as a disguise. During the formal dances, Juliet and Romeo fall in love before she realises that he is a Montague, a family enemy. When his identity is revealed, Lord Capulet intervenes to prevent Tybalt breaking the laws of hospitality by starting a fight.

After the ball, Juliet is on her balcony, dreaming of Romeo, when he enters below. She runs to join him in an ecstatic pas de deux expressing their love for each other.

In Act II, Romeo is a changed man in the market place, no longer at ease with his companions and the harlots. A wedding procession passes through, with acrobats entertaining the crowd to the sound of mandolins. The nurse arrives, bringing a letter for Romeo from Juliet, proposing a secret wedding.

Friar Lawrence marries the lovers, with Juliet's nurse the only witness. Before the marriage can be consummated, Romeo is embroiled in a duel with Tybalt in the market place. Because Romeo had initially refused to quarrel with Tybalt, Mercutio had stepped in for a dare-devil sword fight, only to be stabbed in the back. Romeo avenges his dead friend, killing Tybalt in anger. He has to flee when Lady Capulet enters, overcome with grief, followed by her husband.

Act III opens in Juliet's bedroom, the lovers asleep together. Romeo realises dawn is breaking and that he should leave. Juliet, frantic, tries to delay him, knowing he must go into exile. He departs just before Juliet's parents arrive with Paris. Juliet rejects him, to her father's rage, but she will be forced to marry him. In a dilemma about what to do, she sits on her bed, confounded, then rushes to seek Friar Lawrence's help.

He gives her a potion that will send her into a death-like trance. Romeo is to be told of the plan so that he can rescue her from her tomb, in the hope that both warring families will then forgive them. (The audience has to learn this from the synposis or the play, along with the fact that Romeo fails to be informed of the plan.)

Juliet takes the potion and hides the phial under her pillow. When her parents return with Paris, she appears, reluctantly, to yield to their insistence that she must marry him that day. She makes herself swallow the bitter potion, and crawls in a daze back to her bed. Her bridesmaids come to prepare her for her wedding but find her apparently lifeless. Her nurse and parents are distraught with grief.

Juliet's body is placed on a bier in the family crypt. Paris stays behind after the mourners leave. Romeo enters the vault to bid farewell to her, unaware that she is not in fact dead. He kills Paris, then lifts Juliet from the bier to embrace her for the last time in an excess of grief. He lays her limp body back on the stone slab and drinks poison he has brought with him. When Juliet awakes to find herself in the crypt, Romeo is newly dead. She finds the dagger with which he killed Paris and stabs herself, trying to reach Romeo's body as she dies.

The curtain falls on the on the lifeless bodies without the reconciliation of the Montagues and Capulets with which Shakespeare ended his tragedy. The dual suicide has been painful, two young lives needlessly wasted.

Romeo and Juliet's premiere, with Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev in the leading roles, met with 43 curtain calls; the safety curtain had to be brought down to persuade the audience to leave the theatre. The critical response to the performers and the ballet was fulsome: 'A spectacular asset to the repertoire . . . altogether a milestone for MacMillan' ( Observer); Kenneth MacMillan takes his place as one of the world's leading choreographers' ( Daily Mail); Fonteyn's Juliet was 'all trust and purity, grace and gentleness, radiance and puppy love' ( Sunday Telegraph). Andrew Porter in The Financial Times was the first to reveal that the role of Juliet was not conceived in Fonteyn's image: 'Juliet is plainly a role conceived for Lynn Seymour, and so until we have seen her dance it we cannot be precise about MacMillan's intentions'.

The first performances had gone to Fonteyn and Nureyev because they were a bigger draw than Seymour and Gable. The casting of the famous pair guaranteed a box-office sell out and massive publicity. Sol Hurok, the American impresario, had insisted that if the new ballet were to be included in the Royal Ballet's next US tour, it must be associated with Nureyev and Fonteyn. Paul Czinner's 1966 film of Romeo and Juliet featured Fonteyn and Nureyev for the same box-office reasons.

Seymour and Gable danced as the second cast, receiving adulatory reviews for their fresh approach to the roles. They were followed by three other pairings in the first London season and on the US tour in the spring of 1965.

MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet soon became a signature work of the Royal Ballet's repertoire, and the best known version of the Prokofiev ballet in Britain and the United States. During his lifetime, MacMillan mounted it for the Royal Swedish Ballet in 1971, American Ballet Theatre in 1985 and Birmingham Royal Ballet in 1992 (with new designs by Paul Andrews).

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MacMillan had been longing to create his own Romeo and Juliet after seeing John Cranko's version for the Stuttgart Ballet. Lynn Seymour had danced Cranko's Juliet as a guest artist in Stuttgart in April 1964; MacMillan had subsequently choreographed the balcony scene pas de deux for her and Christopher Gable to perform on Canadian television during their summer break that year.

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Check out this presentation designed by Lindsey Surles.

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Ballet Positions

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Positions of the Feet

In ballet, there are five basic positions of the feet, numbered one through five. Each of the positions utilizes turn-out, or a 90-degree rotation of the leg from the hip joint. Refer to the pictures below and match your feet to each of them to the best of your ability. Remember: Dancers work many years to achieve a full 90-degree turn-out!

Wait...where's Third Position? Third position is rarely used anymore because with the high degree of turnout of today's dancers, it looks too similar to Fifth Position.

Positions of the Arms

There are also various positions of the arms. Match your arms to the pictures shown below.

Movements in Dance

There are multiple steps referred to as the "movements in dance." There are three movements that ballet/dance beginners learn. First learn to pronounce the terminology given below, learn the definition, and then attempt to do the movement described.

1. plie (plee-ay): to bend. Keeping both feet flat on the floor at all times, bend your knees. Remember to send your knees directly out over your toes!

2. releve (ruh-leh-vay'): to rise. This can be done on one foot or both feet together. Start with the feet together, keep the knees straight and lift the heels high enough so all of your body weight is on the balls of the feet - NOT the tips of your toes. Repeat this on one foot.

3. saute (soh-tay): to jump. This sort of jump is performed "two feet to two feet." This means that you leave the ground by jumping off of both feet at the same time and you land on both feet at the same time. Begin in a plie (as described above). Using your feet the same way you did to perform releve, propel yourself into the air. Be sure to straighten and extend your legs in the air, but land in plie to cushion your knees.

Next Steps

Now, combine what you have learned. Choose one position of the feet to stand in and one position of the arms to hold at the same time. Next, perform each of the movements of dance listed above while continuing to hold the positions of the feet and arms you chose. Now you're dancing!

Keep learning with our ballet vocabulary or discover the history of ballet.

Experience ballet for yourself with classes for all ages, including adult beginning ballet classes. Or, introduce your little ones to ballet with Dance the Story at Home!
Artists: PBT Corps de Ballet dancers JoAnna Schmidt and Corey Bourbonniere. Photos by Kelly Perkovich.

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Basic Ballet Positions with Pictures - Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre

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In ballet, there are five basic positions of the feet, numbered one through five. Each of the positions utilizes turn-out, or a 90-degree rotation of the leg from the hip joint. Refer to the pictures below and match your feet to each of them to the best of your ability.