City Ballet's "Romeo and Juliet"

City Ballet has had a stellar 2015–2016 season thus far; their production of The Nutcracker was a crowd favorite, and Balanchine Masterworks showed a level of technique and raw talent that illustrates why City Ballet is a perennial favorite in San Diego. For their final show of the season, City Ballet will be dancing Romeo and Juliet to Sergei Prokofiev’s thrilling score. Choreographed by Elizabeth Wistrich and accompanied by the City Ballet Orchestra, Romeo and Juliet will end City Ballet’s current season not with a whimper, but with a bang.

City Ballet first performed Romeo and Juliet in 2012, with every performance ending in a standing ovation. With an approval rating like that, it’s no wonder artistic director Steven Wistrich is bringing the production back in May. Wistrich knows that Romeo and Juliet will be a show worthy of high praise this time around too, thanks to the lavish setting and costume details carefully incorporated into the ballet. "We found elaborate scenery and costumes to create what you would expect from Romeo and Juliet," Wistrich says of his artistic vision. "It has the balcony, it has bridges… it’s magnificent. The tomb scene looks like a tomb. It’s everything that you’d expect."

And then some; the show includes earth– toned and embroidered costumes, extensive head pieces and long, flowing skirts. Unlike some of City Ballet’s earlier shows with a smaller cast, the entire company participates in Romeo and Juliet, and the whole company is even onstage together during one of the most iconic scenes of the ballet: the Capulet ball.

What really makes the Romeo and Juliet choreography stand out, however, is when the ballet goes from a romantic and soft love story to a rowdy and dramatic romp in the span of a scene. And oh, will you be unable to forget the fast-paced battles because they include something many ballet companies won’t even attempt: authentic sword-fighting. "We hired a professional sword-fighting expert to teach our guys how to sword-fight," Wistrich admits. "It takes hours to stage just those sword-fighting scenes."

With the extensive pas de deux, convoluted staging and complicated sword scenes, why would City Ballet perform Romeo and Juliet? As it turns out, both Elizabeth and Steven Wistrich have a history with the production. Explains Steven Wistrich, "My wife and I danced Romeo and Juliet with the Stuttgart Ballet [in Germany]—the John Cranko version—and it was a ballet that we always loved. We really created this ballet as an homage to John Cranko, to show him that we were artistically able to do it on our own after his mentorship in Stuttgart."

Founded in 1993, City Ballet has accomplished so much in their short 23 years. The company started from scratch and managed to develop an orchestra, become the resident ballet company of Spreckels Theatre and create an extensive repertoire of intricate shows. In fact, City Ballet has become so prolific that they attract dancers from all over the world.

This has clearly paid off for City Ballet; their dancers are all gorgeous technicians with a strong stage presence. Believe it or not, for Steven Wistrich, it’s not the technique or flexibility that he focuses on when recruiting dancers—it’s passion for performance. "I look for people who look like they love to dance," Wistrich confirms. "If they just have blank expressions, I make them audition for a longer period of time because I need to discover if they have the soul of a dancer. To just go on stage and have nice technique would put an audience to sleep because it’s not enough to entertain people. There are some brilliant technicians [out there] who you can’t wait to go off the stage."

City Ballet does not have boring dancers. Their dancers are all strong, emotive performers and actors, meaning Romeo and Juliet will inevitably dazzle their ever–growing audience. Romeo and Juliet is scheduled to run at Spreckels Theatre from May 6th–8th. Tickets are available at City Ballet of San Diego.