19 Jun 20:00

Croatian National Theater Ivan pl. Zajc Rijeka : Romeo and Juliet

Sergei Prokofiev, Adrian Piotrovski, Leonid Lavrovski, Sergej Radlov

Cankarjev dom Theatre and Dance Croatian National Theater Ivan pl. Zajc Rijeka : Romeo and Juliet

Choreography: Jiří Bubeníček
Concept and dramaturgy: Jiří Bubeníček / Nadina Bubeníček Cojocarju
Set design: Aleksandra Ana Buković
Costume design: Nadine Bubeníček Cojocarju
Lighting design: Dalibor Fugošić / Jiří Bubeníček
Video: Fanni Tutek-Hajnal / Nadina Bubeníček Cojocaru
Photographer: Fanni Tutek-Hajnal

Running time: 2 hrs (including an interval)

A contemporary ballet based on William Shakespeare's play from the 16th century, Romeo and Juliet perfectly captures the rush of being in love and the desire to make that feeling last forever despite daunting circumstances. The story about love and its power has a dark side: violence and chaos, confusion and death.

The ballet follows Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet with all the main characters and their relationships: the sequence of decisions and events taking place in four days proves to be a roller coaster of emotions that dancers must reenact in just over 90 minutes. Jiří Bubeníček’s dance piece, reflecting his signature choreographic style full of sculpturality, variation and expressiveness, touches every one of us and immortalizes Romeo and Juliet as one of the most popular and iconic narratives in the world of ballet.

Jiří Bubeníček’s dance piece, reflecting his signature choreographic style full of sculpturality, variation and expressiveness, touches every one of us and immortalizes Romeo and Juliet as one of the most popular and iconic narratives in the world of ballet.

So much tenderness, so much love that destroys worlds, so much warmth and faith in a happy outcome between two young people, and on the other hand so much violence, misunderstanding, emotional coldness, death of those who do not deserve it, it all touched every spectator very deeply. No spoken word can conquer all the senses of the audience in such a strong and deep way as the combination of the impeccably crafted choreography and the distinctive and rich orchestration of music, which enabled dance artists to vividly portray Shakespeare’s characters through the perfection of movement in an entirely new ballet expression.
Gloria Fabijanić Jelović, Radio Korzo

Jiří Bubeníček, a dancer and choreographer, graduated from the Prague Conservatory for Dance. As one of the winners of the prestigious Prix de Lausanne in 1992, he secured a place in the Hamburg Ballet of John Neumeier, where he became the principal dancer in 1997. Neumeier choreographed the role of Vaslav Nijinsky specifically for him in his ballet "Nijinsky." Jiří proved to be an exceptional dancer in all his roles. Since 1999, he has been involved in independent productions and choreography. Some of his most notable works include "Unerreichbare Orte" for the Hamburg Ballet (2005), "Le Souffle de l’Esprit" for the Zurich Ballet (2007), and "Toccata" for the New York City Ballet (2009). More recently, he has created acclaimed choreographies for the Slovenian National Theatre in Ljubljana, Ballet of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, the Royal Swedish Ballet, Ballet of the Teatro dell'Opera Roma, Nuovo Balletto di Toscana, and the Ballet of La Scala in Milan.