Romeo and Juliet: 55 years on NOVAT stage

Today, 17th April Sergei Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet celebrates 55 years of running at the Novosibirsk opera and ballet theatre. The genius ballet was for the first time staged in a Siberian theatre by Oleg Vinogradov; it was in Novosibirsk, where this outstanding ballet master started his professional career. Vinogradov moved to Novosibirsk in 1958 right after graduating from the Leningrad Choreographic School. At first he did crowd scenes and small solo parts, but then he started choreographing his own dance numbers in opera performances. In 1964 he staged his first ballet Cinderella. Romeo and Juliet became his second big work.

Young choreographer’s rendition was acknowledged by the critics and named very interesting, while being praised by the press. “A bold, talented and fresh rendition of Sergei Prokofiev’s genius piece. This Romeo and Juliet possesses a great artistic value” – wrote the experts about Vinogradov’s work. Valery Levental acted as production designer; at that time he was a young, prominent set designer, yet to become a world famous craftsman. Title parts were performed by Siberian ballet stars: Lidia Krupenina, Nikita Dolgushin, Konstantin Brunov, Valery Romm. The second time the Siberian ballet company turned to Prokofiev’s score in 1972. The staging was directed by Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vasilyov. The cast consisted of contemporary dancers. Juliet was performed by Lyudmila Kondrashova, Tatiana Kladnichkina and Lyubov Gershunova - her rendition was as striking as it gets. Romeo was performed by Anatoly Berdyshev and Alexander Balabanov. This rendition ran at the theatre for thirteen years.

The next time the ageless love story returned to the stage was thirty years later in 2016. Oleg Vinogradov staged his ballet once again on this majestic Siberian venue. This work, as well as the master’s other pieces are protected by UNESCO. Chief Conductor of NOVAT Dmitri Jurowski acted as music director for this production. Title roles are now performed by young talented dancers: Ksenia Zakharova, Ekaterina Likhova, Evgeny Basalyuk, Anna Germizeeva, Roman Polkovnikov.