Falling - Alexandra Cunningham

In Romeo and Juliet, we do a lot of falling.  Whether I'm portraying a street women in a Market scene getting pushed by one of Tybalt's cohorts, or when I'm dancing Juliet and being struck by my father, fainting from poison or collapsing from stabbing myself - I am falling to the ground quite a bit.  Last week in our first full 'run-through' (or rehearsing the entire show from start to finish in the studio), I fell twice - unintentionally.  The first fall was comical.  Christie, who plays the nurse was unavailable for the rehearsal, so Amanda kindly stepped in for her.  I had never practiced jumping on to Amanda's lap, so when it came for the time in the choreography to leap onto the Nurses lap, I went for it.  Unfortunately - neither of us was ready for it and we just toppled over, and in hysterics tried to salvage the rest of the scene.  The second time, was in the same rehearsal.  Just before Juliet takes the poison, she has second thoughts.  Ron has choreographed a dramatic solo in which we must run around the stage confused and scared, not sure what to do, and in the middle of it, as I was shuffling backwards, I slipped on a slick spot from sweat and before I knew it, I was face down on the floor.  Shocked, I just stayed there for what felt like an eternity and finally said something appropriately eloquent like, "wow."  Well, I suppose that I can just wrap it up by taking it as good practice.  I learned that the best way to make it look like you are falling to the floor is to just go for it, and fall.  Hopefully I can just keep to the choreography now and not find myself on my face unexpectedly!

Week Four - Keith Sutter

Growing Up

Today I had my first run through with the entire cast of Romeo and Juliet. The support and friendship of this company is a truly beautiful thing.  I recently noticed that Michael Separovich, the man that plays Juliet's Father Lord Capulet was also my father in Sacramento Ballet's Nutcracker when I was Clara in 1998. I remember how it felt to hold his hands and look up at him as a 9 year old.  My real parents would watch from the windows when I was 9 while I rehearsed my "Clara cries" (Clara cries quite a bit).  Both my mom and dad watched me cry in a much different way today.  They sat inside the studio with special permission. 

I am full of joy and gratitude for the directors of the company, the other dancers, my partner Stefan (who you will fall in love with if you see him as Romeo) Shakespeare earth shaking story, the opportunity I have been given to be a part of telling it and that I've been having wonderful experiences with Sacramento Ballet since I was 8. 

Chloe Horne

Sword Fighting with the Men of Verona ~ at the Wells Fargo Building!

The Sacramento Ballet's production of Shakespeare's most famous love story "Romeo & Juliet" involves quite a few sword fights with the men of the Ballet.  

This is a compilation of footage from the Wells Fargo Building fight showing as well as some incredible photos from our Company photographer Keith Sutter and fellow dancer Alexander Biber. Cheers!

~Isha

Benvolio Vision

This time, it's personal.

Emotional Rollercoaster!

Today we ran through the full production of Romeo and Juliet for the first time. Getting to the “pointe”, it was the most amazing emotional rollercoaster! The first day of run-throughs is always my favorite day - when we’re so invested in the complete ballet that we allow ourselves to “forget” the technicality of everything (well, not really!) and just let the power of the ballet take over. It doesn’t matter how many times I have seen or danced each section, the ballet really takes it shape and evolves on day 1 of run-throughs.

This is the first time that I’ve ever danced in a production of Romeo and Juliet, though I was already very familiar with the storyline. I knew that Romeo and Juliet was going to be extremely emotional, but I never realized to what extent. As a market dancer, I am on stage and acting during the sword fighting scenes (which is both exciting and dangerous!). Imagine in previous rehearsals, I was acting the role without the benefit of the sword fighting around me. Rehearsing my role in the market scene with the entire cast today was exhilarating. For the first time, I was able to lose myself in my acting. I did not need to” act” the role - I genuinely felt it. I truly felt the terror, laughter, and thrill that would have been felt throughout the market place.

I have so much respect and admiration for the dancers dancing Romeo and Juliet: Alex, Amanda, Chloe, Stefan, and Rick. They put so much effort into developing their characters and this is really what makes this ballet so captivating. Watching Stefan and Amanda rehearse today was truly awe-inspiring. I have never witnessed a ballet (or a studio rehearsal) that made me feel so in love and heart-broken at the same time! For me, the best and worst part is when Juliet wakes up after Romeo has killed himself. I immediately started crying because Juliet emotes such joy when she first awakens, yet we
as the audience know that her whole world is about to come crashing down.

I hope that everyone can come to see this ballet. The tale of Romeo and Juliet really comes alive in Sacramento Ballet’s production. There is such beauty in the story that only ballet can convey with such subtlety and passion. So please encourage your friends to come. You will not be disappointed!

Lauryn

Fight Sequence!!!!!!!!!!!

Photo Update By Alexander Biber

Ron Cunningham – Artistic Director.

Today, we entered into the 4th rehearsal week for Romeo & Juliet.  At this point, all the choreography and staging has been completed.  The complicated mosaic of stitching it all together, defining motivation, and refining nuance now begins.  This is where Carinne really shines.  She is like a master chief preparing a delicate gourmet meal.  Her sense of timing and wonderful coaching brings the dancers to the edge of readiness on opening night.  Not too overdone nor undercooked, just right, like the perfect soufflé. 

My mind keeps replaying pictures of last Friday night’s Inside the Directors’ Studio: The Men of the Sacramento Ballet.  Carinne conceived and narrated the evening with wit, humor, and insight.  The audience was mesmerized by her command and charmed by her infectious enthusiasm.  As one audience member said to me, “it must be hard not to be inspired in her presence.”  I agree!

Crypt Scene - Alexandra Cunningham

Out of all the scenes in Romeo and Juliet, I particularly enjoy rehearsing the crypt scene.  They are usually scheduled at the very end of the rehearsal day, when we are the most tired, but in a way that's a good thing because it is the least physically demanding.  For the first half, if not more, Juliet just lies there as if dead (of course, she's really just in a sort of temporary coma, but her body remains without life).  It's extremely bizarre to lie there stiff and motionless unless lifted, pulled, or hugged by Romeo.  My eyes are closed so I can't predict when Rick will hold my hand or squeeze me - yet despite lacking that particular sense, I can feel Rick's intensity in every other way.  While it is weird to not be able to react to his embraces and tugs, the emotional tension in his body fuels and helps me to mentally prepare and "awaken" as Juliet.  Her emotions run the gamut in that scene: waking terrified by being in a crypt, total shock and sadness when practically stumbling upon Paris' dead body, complete, almost giddy, happiness from finding Romeo's cape, and then finally to horrific and utter despair upon finding Romeo dead - recently poisoned by his own hand.  Juliet screams, cries, convulses - she's hysterically sad and even frustrated Romeo didn't leave her poison.  She is so distraught that when she sees Romeo's scabbard and dagger she runs to it like an animal and immediately, without a second thought, she stabs herself in her stomach.  This scene is very draining -but since it is the ultimate culmination of Romeo and Juliet's struggle for love, I feel a sense of closure and satisfaction when it's over.

Inside the Directors Studio - Keith Sutter

My second time in Ron Cunningham's Romeo and Juliet

Well, it's my second time in Ron's production of Romeo and Juliet. I had a blast the last time we did it 2005 and I am having even more fun this time!! I am one of the very few dancers that was here the last time we did it. I was telling Carinne yesterday how much has come back to me and what I remember. I haven't even thought about the ballet since we performed it. I actually think I enjoy it more this time! Dexter, our fight master, is the best! I remember having fun with the  sword fighting last time, but I am really having a lot more fun this time.  It's always interesting for me to see the Romeos and Juliets rehearse because they are all very different and they add their own spunk to their part. I love to sit and watch them rehearse from the front. I always cry during the last third of the ballet. It's horrible! But I can't help it. It's so sad and I am a sucker for LOVE!!!! I am very excited to get on stage and perform and hope to see ALL of Sacramento there!

Sunchai Muy

Week Three! ~Katie Miller

Here we are at the end of week three!  It was a very productive and successful week.  As my fellow dancer Lauren Breen stated, all the choreography in the entire ballet has been taught! Even though this is very exciting news, our work is far from over.  Although we have learned all of the dances and acting scenes, now the process of fine tuning all of the little details really begins.  Timing every single movement in the partnering sections, matching all of the heads and arms, creating the right amount of chaos during the fight scenes….today the men had to learn the exact pattern that was desired when they throw down their swords!  As all of these details start coming together, more and more of the ballet will be run in show order. 

On Friday evening, the ballet hosted “Inside the Director’s Studio: The Men of the Sacramento Ballet.”  Different sections of the ballet were shown for the first time to a studio completely filled with people.  For me personally, it was very exciting to hear the reactions that filled the room.  I feel that when we practice something so much, sometimes we forget that in that moment we create magic for people. Every laugh, gasp, and sigh of contentment was a wonderful reminder to all of the dancers about the journey that this ballet takes people, and how much our work is appreciated. 

Inside the Director's Studio- Photo by Keith Sutter

Week four, here we come!

~Katie Miller

Lauren Breen- "Romeo and Juliet" is a team effort!

The Team!

   
      Well, we've just finished another week of rehearsals and I'm happy to report that we have successfully staged the entire ballet!  Now that we've learned all of our steps, we must begin to focus on developing our characters.  And for the members of the ensemble, this might mean a new character for each act!  I start out the ballet as a market lady, casually dancing and enjoying a nice day in the market until fighting disrupts the scene.  Next I'll be in the ball, either as a regal Capulet woman or a young friend of Juliet.  Then its back to the market for more dancing and lots more fighting before returning again as a friend of Juliet coming to wake her up on her wedding day.  This can get a little bit confusing!!  That's why its important for us to work on how to make each part look different.  An innocent friend of Juliet at her first fancy party would not interact with her fellow party goers in the same way that a mature Capulet woman would.  And a Capulet woman would carry herself in a much more proper manner than the ladies dancing around the market.  By thinking about these differences we are able to establish the tone of each scene and help the main characters better tell their stories.  So even though you know the ballet as just Romeo and Juliet, its takes the whole team to tell their story.  (Though I think Romeo, Juliet and Market Lady #3 has a nice ring to it !!!)

Dancer Proflies by Keith Sutter

It’s not always chocolate flavored moments at the ballet

The past few weeks at the Sacramento Ballet have been a whirlwind of emotions : From the highs of tackling a big production, the tedium and at times humdrum drilling of steps to the lows of physical pain, emotional exhaustion and everything in between.  It's certainly been quite the rollercoaster ride.

The chocolate flavored moments as evidenced by last night's Inside Director's Studio are numerous. One can glance into the studio on occasion and marvel at the masterful physicality of Amanda;  the nuanced artistry of Chloe; the ineffable vulnerability of Alexandra and the powerful  partnering of Stephan and Rick;  and have your heart touched in places you never knew existed before.

It isn't however someone's magnificent  physicality and technique or emotionally charged portrayal that I am going to talk about.

It's an emotional upset by a teary-eyed dancer during one of the rehearsals that struck a chord of true empathy. It's never easy to talk about UPSETS publicly, be it dictated by social convention, the fear of disapproval or something that we have learned to suppress and avoid.. I decided , H*ll why not?! It's by not looking that limiting beliefs stay hidden.

Whatever the upset was experienced by the dancer I cannot speak for.  I can only say that when witnessed,  I was at first dumbstruck at how beautiful this expression of  human emotion was, then mildly confused that I would think it is beautiful. And then in an instant, the heart opened...And I remembered a once dark place of profound aloneness and unworthiness, masked in terms of a quest for perfection : the perfect body, the perfect technique, the perfect job, the perfect relationship....

The quest for perfection is not a good or bad thing in itself. If it is a search for clarity, then in my experience, it is helpful. But if it is a device to constantly crucify oneself and blame others, then it is destructive and insane. We need not be reminded what the cost of this insanity is in our world. Shakespeare makes it particularly poignant with the suicide of a 14 year old girl and a teenage boy.

......

What is this clarity? It is mindfulness. A mindfulness of everything that is brought into one's experience, and even of the subtle judgments of self and others... If I am not mindful, then I cannot really honestly look, question and change my mind. The programming of limitation runs me and the heart is closed.

I heard Carinne say that it is more difficult to be still.  I resonated. It's true in my experience that a mind addicted to busyness and easily distracted by limiting thoughts that it believes it cannot let go of are obstacles to being present. With stillness we can allow for a clarity of purpose to be borne and an unimaginable intuition to flow "where the dancer and the dance become one". Being mindful of how your fingers move or how each metatarsal points  a foot and how the body moves across time and space can be an exhilarating and exquisite moment-to-moment discovery. Who knows?

It is my sincere wish that Ron's production of Romeo and Juliet will be a beautiful  and magical journey for all, to a place beyond conceptualization;  to a place where your heart beats wildly and you don't know why , where "true love is grown to such excess, I cannot sum up some of half my wealth" .

I am once again kindly reminded why I am so in love with this artform. With vulnerability comes a world of feelings, emotions and experiences too subtle to describe. It is perhaps a love that grows and grows and grows....

Roy

Amanda and Stefan in the Balcony Pas de Deux by Keith Sutter

"Yes, the fashion is the fashion."

When Sacramento Ballet purchased the scenery and costumes for Romeo & Juliet in 2010, we were delighted to learn that we would receive not only the beautiful original costumes designed by William Pitkin in 1976, which we had used in 3 previous productions, but also new gowns, tunics, robes and much more from David Huevel, the resident designer at Ballet West.  Having seen the amazing work created by that company when we utilized Ballet West's Sleeping Beauty in 2008, we knew that great things awaited.

Once the 22 boxes arrived - let me stop right there.  That's TWENTY-TWO boxes, each carefully packed and labeled. Upon inventorying, we knew that the next step would be marrying the two sets of costumes to best fit Ron Cunningham's artistic vision.  For example, Mr. Huevel created amazing Elizabethan gowns and tunics for the Capulet Ball, but it became apparent that the original costumes better suited the dramatic choreography.  The new costume for the Prince of Verona?  A perfect match for the character:  regal, imposing, dramatic.


Slowly, between Ron, Carinne and our tireless (and endlessly talented) wardrobe department - Theresa Kimbrough and LeeAnne Larsen, the show began to take shape.

Alex, one of the gorgeous Juliets, is fitted for her nightgown.

Brik, demonstrating that sometimes alterations are required.

We immediately put one of the beautiful new gowns to use.

So many options, we have to use one of the studios just to keep track!

Costumes are assigned for the male guests at the Ball.

The women of Sacramento Ballet.

If you want to see everything onstage, and try and guess which beautiful gowns and tunics have come from the minds of two amazingly talented designers, you'll have 4 chances this Valentine's Day weekend!

(A sidenote:  I borrowed the title from another brilliant Shakespeare play - Much Ado About Nothing, since the two lovers in our story were just a little bit too preoccupied to talk about the latest styles of the time!)

-Caitlin