Prokofiev's ballet comes to Bratislava January 19.
The Slovak premiere of Sergej Prokofiev's ballet interpretation of Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet, choreographed by the Swiss ballet legend Nicholas Beriozoff (1906- 1996) and performed by the Slovak National Theatre's ballet dancers will take place at 19:00 on Friday, January 19 at the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava. The best Slovak ballet dancer and the greatest talent of the year 2000 will also receive the Philip Morris Ballet Flower Award after the performance.
The ballet touchingly captures the Renaissance story of the two young-lovers from feuding Veronese families and is among the most successful dance adaptations of Shakespeare's work.
Prokofiev's ballet received its world premiere, choreographed by Ivo Váňa-Psota, in Czechoslovakia in 1938 in Brno and since then has enjoyed a remarkable run of popularity with performances all around the world. The Slovak National Theatre had already staged three premieres of different choreographers of the ballet in 1949, 1954 and 1968.
The fourth version will feature Prokofiev's original score and will be played by the Slovak National Theatre's Orchestra. Austrian conductor Wolfdieter Maurer and the Slovak Rastislav Štúr will share the conductor's duties over the two performances.
The characters in the ballet will also change among the theatre's ballet dancers for each performance. The talented 22-year old ballet dancer Roman Lazík, performing Romeo, has already attained success in prestigious international ballet competitions and was awarded the Slovak Ballet Flower in 1996.
This unique ballet performance will be performed in Slovenské národné divadlo (the Slovak National Theatre) on Hviezdoslavovo námestie 1. The premiere on January 19 will be followed by a second performance on January 20. Both performances start at 19:00. The tickets cost 60-120 Sk and can be bought at the theatre's ticket office on Komenského námestie (behind the theatre building). Tel: 5443 3764.
By Zuzana Habšudová
