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Preview of a review: Tulsa Ballet's "Romeo & Juliet."
Published: 2/11/2012 1:49 PM
Last Modified: 2/11/2012 1:50 PM

Soo Youn Cho and Alfonso Martin in Tulsa Ballet's "Romeo and Juliet."

Let’s put it this way: Tulsa Ballet’s new “Romeo and Juliet” is, quite simply, Great Shakes.

The company gave the world premiere of this full-length ballet by Edwaard Liang Friday night at the Tulsa PAC, and it is a masterful work of dance theater, one that tells the story of Shakespeare’s “star-crossed lovers” with an economy and artistry that delivers all the thrilling beauty of ballet and all the emotional power of drama.

And it was performed with an intensity and passion that showed the Tulsa Ballet dancers knew they were a part of something special.

Liang, whose work includes “Beautiful Child,” which was created for Tulsa Ballet in 2010, has never choreographed a full-length story ballet before, but his ability to delineate character and convey the intricacies of a narrative purely through movement is impeccable.

I’ve seen a number of versions of “Romeo and Juliet” — on stage and in film, as drama and as dance — and Liang’s version is one of most effective, and most affecting, of them all. The drama is swiftly yet perfectly paced, the moments of comedy and tragedy are nicely balanced, and the small, subtle changes Liang has made to his staging do much of heighten the emotional wallop at the end.

Performances are 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at the Tulsa PAC. Principal dancers Soo Youn Cho and Alfonso Martin will dance the title roles Saturday, soloist Sofia Menteguiaga and principal Wang Yi will perform Sunday.

For tickets: 918-596-7111 or www.tulsaworld.com.mytix.

The full review will run in Monday's Tulsa World.

Reader Comments

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94291 (last year)

So few ballet companies in the world are qualified and able to have a full-length ballet newly created for them, demonstrating once again what a phenomenal organization Tulsa Ballet is. Critics and dance enthusiasts from New York, Chicago, Europe were in Tulsa or had watchful eyes on last weekend's performances, and they were amazed and impressed. Tulsa Ballet elevates the City of Tulsa and makes us Tulsans quite proud.

23050 (last year)

Thanks Jim for the great review. Tulsa Ballet has come a long way to this point under Marcello's guidance and it has paid off in a great new production that will be sent out to the world from Tulsa. When another national company dances this production they will be performing Edward's choreography of Romeo and Juliet "set on Tulsa Ballet". The whole dance community will now know and reaffirm the quality of Tulsa Ballet as they perform this great new production that we created. Thank you Marcello.

Jackie O (last year)

Thank you Jim for the articles about Tulsa Ballet's Romeo and Juliet. The word about Edwaard Liang's new production spread and those who were unable to see it definitely missed out. It was fabulous and will no doubt be performed all over the world.

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ARTS

James D. Watts Jr. has lived in Oklahoma for most his life, even though he still has people saying to him, "Don't sound like you're from around these parts." A University of Oklahoma Phi Beta Kappa graduate, Watts has received the Governor Arts Award, Harwelden Award and the National Conference of Christians and Jews Beth Macklin Award for his writing. Before coming to the Tulsa World, Watts worked for the Tulsa Tribune.

Contact him at (918) 581-8478.

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Archive

Past Articles By James D. Watts Jr

2/15/2013		'Concept/OK' exhibit ends Saturday
2/14/2013		Symphony to host piano soloist
2/14/2013		Broadway tours bring 'Shrek,' improv musical to Tulsa area this weekend
2/14/2013		Arts roundup: Improv reigns at several upcoming theater events
2/14/2013		'Lion King' returns to Tulsa PAC June 4
2/12/2013		Review: Signature Symphony reprises '100 Years of Oklahoma Music'
2/11/2013		Tulsa Symphony's concert salutes diverse American music
2/10/2013		Cherokee artist weaves messages into baskets
2/10/2013		Tesla Quartet set for Tulsa residency next week with variety of activities
2/10/2013		Jim Murphy wins 2013 Anne Zarrow Award
2/10/2013		LBJ chronicler Robert Caro to speak at TU on Tuesday
2/9/2013		Theater review: Playhouse makes "Barefoot in the Park" believable

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