Romeo and Juliet ballet performance

The book includes retold ballet performances for children and you can buy it at the Romanian Opera in Bucharest.

Romeo and Juliet ballet performance

So long had passed since the Montague and Capulet families had declared war, that even the oldest inhabitants of Verona could not remember what had happened to them. It is said that whenever members of rival families met even by chance on the street, it often resulted in a duel. They didn’t even need an excuse.

At dawn, when even the roosters had not managed to wake up, Romeo Montague wandered the narrow streets of the small Italian town. The people had not yet opened the shutters, and there was no flickering in the windows, a sign that everyone was taking advantage of the last hours of sleep.

The young man walked apathetically and he didn’t know where he was going either, because his mind was far away, on the girl he loved hopelessly. He wondered when the day would come when his love would be shared. When will the day come when he will receive perfumed treats to open with his heart pounding in his chest?

Still wandering, he passes by an inn. Judging by the music and the noises, the henchmen were still partying. The door slams against the wall and Tybalt Capulet appears. Not one, not two, swords leap from their scabbards and spark in the first rays of morning. Out of nowhere, the friends of both combatants appear. In an instant, the whole city is awakened by the sound of musketry. What a mess!

You can’t do it anymore! It is unacceptable that all the inhabitants should suffer from the rivalries of the two families! The Duke of Verona himself intervenes and threatens the duelists that if they are caught fighting again, they will be severely punished.

All the while, Juliet Capulet slept in her carved walnut bed and Venetian bronze canopy. She had barely turned 15, but the news of her beauty had spread far and wide. She had been promised to be the wife of a young aristocrat named Paris, and the news of the future engagement was to be given at a masked ball.

All the nobles of Verona were invited, except the Montagues, as expected.

Except that, by chance, as happens only in movies and in life, Romeo also appears. He sees Juliet and it seems to him that time stands still. It seemed to him the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. But he doesn’t go unnoticed either and falls head over heels for Juliet who, the night that followed, didn’t rest for a moment with the thought of the green-eyed stranger who hadn’t escaped her gaze at the party.

At night, Romeo sneaks to her balcony and declares his feelings. Hesitant at first, Juliet can’t take it anymore and declares her feelings too.

Today like this, tomorrow like this. Not a night passed without the two meeting. It’s already been a month since the first meeting, and Romeo dares to ask her to be his wife. Taken by surprise, she needs a break to think.

The next day, the decision had been made. Juliet sends him a letter through the governess, in which she agrees to become his wife. As their families would never have accepted such a union, the two are forced to marry secretly, in a monk’s cell.

It’s carnival time, and the streets of Verona are full of young people wearing more and more precious masks. Coincidence causes Romeo to meet Tybalt again and challenge each other to a fight, completely ignoring the duke’s prohibition. But alas, in the scuffle, Romeo’s best friend, Mercutio, is killed. Furious with rage, Romeo avenges his friend and kills Tybalt in turn. He is forced to leave Verona quickly, but not before saying goodbye to his beautiful wife.

On the same day, Julieta is informed by her mother that the wedding date with Paris had been set. The girl bursts into tears and begs her parents not to allow her marriage to a young man she did not love. In vain! The decision had been made.

Juliet does not accept her fate and goes to ask the help of the monk who married her to Romeo. He prepares her a magic potion that will plunge the girl into a deep sleep and make everyone else think she is dead.

When she got home, she drank the potion and passed out immediately. The next morning, the family finds her unconscious and prepares for the funeral.

The news that his beloved Juliet has died, falls like a thunderbolt on Romeo, who had not been able to find out about the girl’s plan. Torn by pain, he sneaks into the crypt where she was laid to see her one last time. He realizes that, without the one who had recently become his wife, his life no longer has meaning and commits suicide. Shortly after, Juliet wakes up from the effect of the potion and discovers Romeo lying dead next to her. He can’t believe his eyes. He can’t believe that the plan that was supposed to bring them together backfired, and more than that, it took Romeo’s life. Overcome with pain, Julieta stabs herself in the chest with her lover’s dagger.

All of Verona is in mourning. After so many young destinies had been destroyed because of an old enmity, the two families fall, in the end, to peace.