The L.A. Dance Project transforms the familiar world of Romeo and Juliet into a gender mashup and multimedia immersion in its production of Romeo and Juliet Suite. Spoleto audiences may see a male lead on stage, while his male lover yearns from another location via live video feed. And every night, a new pair of lovers appear on stage: the lead roles of Romeo and Juliet alternate between male/female, male/male, and female/female partners.
The inspiration behind the multimedia use comes from artistic director and co-founder of L.A. Dance Project Benjamin Millepied, best known outside the dance world for choreographing the film Black Swan. At Spoleto, associate artistic director Sebastien Marcovici will operate a Steadicam, moving among the dancers onstage and off as his live feed appears on screens.
With action happening on and off stage, timing is especially crucial in Millepied’s production, said dancer Nayomi Van Brunt.
“It’s a really big production to pull off. The camera might cut off at a really critical moment, but it comes right back on so as dancers we have to adapt,” she said. “When we did this ballet at La Seine Musicale in Paris, one part of the ballet was outside and rain was on and off. My partner and I would get an update like ‘OK, we are going to go outside,’ or ‘No we’re just going to do this in the foyer.’ Plans change so quickly.”
Marcovici, who also has a dance background, worked with rehearsal director Janie Taylor to align the camera with the choreography. Marcovici and Millepied pre-select locations to film, but nothing is confirmed until a few days prior to a performance. The dancers learn only then of any changes to the choreography.
An inclusive take enlivens a familiar story
The multimedia component of the show adds a cinematic touch that pulls the characters and audience together, Van Brunt explained.
“When I got to watch the show, I remember being like ‘Oh my God, this is amazing,’” she said. “I had an idea of all the inner workings of it, but still it was so beautiful. I’m so happy to be a part of this cast because this is something really, really special. I hope audiences will experience all of our artistic choices: our love, our joy, our passion, our pain, and just have a good time.
“I mean, it is a tragic love story, but I think it can be really beautiful.”
In addition to Millepied’s multimedia use, his vision also includes a dance ensemble that celebrates universal love.
For Taylor, the altering gender roles speak to Shakespeare’s themes of forbidden love. In today’s world, people in queer relationships still face social barriers.
“The ballet is a more modern version of what some people may think is a less acceptable love,” she said. “For us to be able to just show different types of love as valid and accepted is a celebration for all types of love.”
Exploring and celebrating our differences
Taylor has collaborated with Millepied in the past at the New York City Ballet and has performed in a previous production of Millepied’s Romeo and Juliet Suite with L.A. Dance Project. Taylor said she is excited to help new dancers learn the choreography and guide them in understanding both Millepied’s style and their own.
“There’s places where it’s more appropriate for a dancer to take it a little further in their own way and other spots where it really has to be very specific,” she said. “It’s part of my job to know where those places are and to help them gauge where they have more freedom or less freedom, helping them make it feel like their own while still being true to Benjamin.”
For Van Brunt, who performs the role of Juliet, rehearsals are a crucial space for grasping not only the choreography but also the emotional mindset needed to convey her character onstage. Early rehearsals for this production began during the pandemic, and dancers were masked. Van Brunt recalled meeting her Romeo partner Daphne Fernberger and said the two conveyed their characters’ love for one another solely through eye contact.
Millepied and Taylor encourage dancers to explore, Van Brunt said.
“There are times when Benjamin is very particular about the choreography but then you might do something that only you can do and he will say ‘keep that, I love that,’” Van Brunt said. “He really allows you to be yourself. I think it’s one of the reasons why I have grown so much as an artist.
I’ve danced in other companies and I’ve felt like most of my career I was told to mirror someone else that did not look like me. I’ve never had Benjamin say that to me. In fact he celebrates the fact that we’re all so different. If you look at the entire company, not one person looks the same.”
The L.A. Dance Project will perform Romeo and Juliet Suite at the Charleston Gaillard Center on May 25 and May 26, accompanied by the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra. Both dates have two performances at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are available for all performances.
Sarah Merke is a magazine, news and digital journalism graduate student at Syracuse University.
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