Romeo and Juliet

The most romantic, and yet the most tragic love story that William Shakespeare ever wrote is indisputably that of Romeo and Juliet. Most of us have seen this masterpiece interpreted either on stage or on screen. And some of us have seen it several times. And yet we are always drawn to this piece and are ready to see it one more time.

Right now, you have an opportunity to see once again another interpretation of this ageless love story, this time on stage right here in Montreal. This ballet, set to the music of Sergei Prokofiev, is presented by Les Grands Ballets Canadiens at the Théâtre Maisonneuve at the Place-des-Arts.

If you are in a mood for romanticism, you might not find it in this staging of the famous love story. Some of the elements used to create a heightened romantic mood – luscious colours, elaborate period costumes and seductive lightening are not present in this piece. Neither is present the precise, traditional choreography with a set of effective means of expressing emotions which communicate to the public with ease and immediacy.

Let us momentarily contemplate the subject of ballet.

Until recently, the ballet of the past had gone unchanged for a very long time, trying to preserve the purity of its traditional forms of expression which had the power to communicate emotions with easily understood clarity. In addition, the traditional ballet was concerned with the gracefulness of movements which effectively created an overall poetic, dignified, splendid, and even noble effect.

Let us be honest, can we call our present times noble, poetic and dignified? In the world where in order to be noticed you have to be “chic”, “with it” and “cool”, the old ballet values are no longer understood or appreciated.

It has been a couple of decades now that the traditional ballet has found itself at odds with the present reality, and has even been perceived as outmoded. New artistic forms from modern and jazz dance have been steadily seeping into ballet. Yet let’s hope that the purely traditional ballet would not die completely, and that it will be preserved and staged periodically as an alternative to the mixed style that is currently in vogue and is taking over the ballet.

So how is current interpretation of the famous love story Romeo and Juliet by Les Grands Ballets Canadiens different?

This Romeo and Juliet is not a period mis-en-scène. There are no lush stage sets, nor colourful costumes or lights. As a matter of fact, the decor by Ernest Pignon-Ernest can be referred to as minimalist. He achieves the definition of the space with several movable white screens, which, depending on the scene, change colour by means of spot lights. But do not expect any bright and vibrant colours such as reds or greens. The pallet ranges from white to black, passing though various degrees of grey and beige with a tinge of ochre. As for the costumes, designed by Jerome Kaplan, they match the minimalist colour palette of the mis-en-scène. The only exception is a luscious, shimmering gold dress of Juliet which she wears in a masquerade scene where she first meets Romeo.

What might be the reasons for the removal of colour and of blossoming elements from this interpretation of Romeo and Juliet? (As a matter of fact, you will not even see the traditional balcony from which Juliet calls dreamily to her lover.) Is the stern decor chosen in order to zoom the spectator’s attention to the sculptural quality of the dance? If that is the case, could this explain the color scheme of this production - that of metals, plaster and clay, which are the traditional sculpture materials?

The choreographed movements in this ballet are purely sculptural. Each grouping of characters, each pas-de-deux, creates a sculpture in space. The movements own the space. The space is constantly restructured with bodies and limbs, and is permeated with visceral energy.

What you see on stage is sculpture in motion. Each dance is choreographed in such a way as to restructure with every movement the three-dimensional space.

By all means, go and see this ballet. You might find yourself enchanted with the Prokofiev’s music, and with the kaleidoscopic movements on stage. And above all, you will be once again reminded of the great Shakespeare’s genius, which has fascinated us through many centuries.


Photo above
by Sergei Endinian
Romeo and Juliet
Dancers of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens

Girodet – The Romantic Rebel

Who was Girodet? And why should we really care?

For starters, he was the first one ever to make a full length portrait of a black man as a true western political legislator, dressed in European clothes. See below the Portrait of Citizen Belley, Ex-Representative of the Colonies (1797).

Girodet was also a master draftsman. His drawings are alive. The precision of rendering is almost photographic, and each detail breathes life into the subject.

Girodet became a painter against his parents' will. He was a pupil of the renowned neoclassical painter Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825). Of all his students, Girodet was the most gifted and also the most erudite. Moreover, he was rebellious and competitive. This led him to part with the strict neoclassical teachings and to embark onto Romanticism.

Girodet was the first French painter to portray emotion. David said of him “on nous fait les personnages de crystal” (“He makes crystal-clear personages”). And indeed he did. Each evocative gesture in Girodet’s paintings and drawings, each facial and bodily expression reveal internal world of people he portrayed.

Girodet was also interested in unusual colour effects and in the problems of concentrated light and shade. He masterfully employs light and shade in rendering the volume of a human body, or to create a specific allegorical, sensual, or “romanticized” effect in his paintings.

Girodet was born on January 29, 1767, and was named Anne-Louis Girodet. At that time, Anne was considered to be both a masculine and a feminine name. His father died in 1784 and his mother in 1787 when Girodet was barely 20. A neighbor, a friend of the family Doctor Trioson took Girodet under his protection and guidance right after Girodet’s father death. In 1908, when Girodet was 41, Dr. Trioson, whose wife and children have died, adopted Girodet as his own son. And this is when Girodet’s official name became Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson.

We can only assume that it was thanks to the Dr. Trioson’s constant support and care that Girodet’s talent has blossomed freely. Not only did he become known as a historical painter, but he also painted allegorical subject matters and excelled in sensual depiction of human body. He also illustrated books, for instance those of Virgil, as well as many poetical works.

What was less know of Girodet, and what has come to light quite recently, is that he also painted a lot of commissioned portraits of various well-to-do people, both men and women. It is speculated that many such portraits are still held in private collections and are unknown to the art world.

After his death on December 9, 1824, King Louis XVIII made Girodet posthumously an officer of the Legion of Honour, in recognition of his artistic contribution to France.

Girodet’s paintings, drawings and sketches are presently on display at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Girodet’s collection has been shown in Paris, Chicago and New York. Many of his works have traveled to North America for the first time ever.


Photo 1
GIRODET de Roussy-Trioson, Anne-Louis
Self-portrait with Neckerchief and Hat
About 1790
Black crayon, black chalk, white guash highlights
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Delia E. Holden Fund, 1978.79
Photo © The Cleveland Museum of Art

Photo 2
GIRODET de Roussy-Trioson, Anne-Louis
Portrait of Citizen Belley, Ex-Representative of the Colonies
About 1797
Oil on canvas
Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon
Photo © RMN/Gérard Blot