Looking back I would like to talk about a performance Radio and Juliet by Edward Clug, which was showed in Moscow about a year ago. Noted for the ballet’s choreography and simplicity, Radio and Juliet represents a modernized interpretation of Shakespeare. This an hour long performance was set by combination of the classic drama and the electronic music by Radiohead.
I remember that day, when I was staying in the long turn to Kremlin, where this ballet should be showed. And despite of a truly cold winter evening, people were coming and coming to the entrance. It was a real sellout and the auditorium of Kremlin was full completely. The main reason of such popularity of this performance was, of course, the music of British band Radiohead, which was so favored in Russia and which had never had their concerts here.
The Russian organizers decided to divide this event into two parts. The first part represented fragments from the classic Russian ballet and the second – Radio and Juliet. To my mind, it was a quite crude decision, because the audience, consisting from the music fans, was mostly not prepared to perceive traditional ballet and was bored openly during the first part. For me it was an interesting experience to feel the contrast between the traditional and modern ballets.
Talking about The Radio and Juliet, I would like to note the common style of choreography, which was made up of sharp body movements. It includes twitching and jerking which gives the appearance of robots on stage. The robotic choreography fits to robotic voice from the album OK Computer and creates the intense atmosphere. The stage design impressed me much by its extremely pithiness and clarity. There were only black and white backs and in the contrast – white and black bodies, this visual desicion standed out and emphasized body lines and forms perfectly. Strong music, visual effects, clarity and expressive language of body – all of this got a great impression to me.
Moscow Theatre Review 