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Tama Barry's Romeo and Juliet tour blog - week 1, Glasgow

Principal dancer Tama Barry writes about life on the road with Romeo and Juliet. 
 
So here we are in the theatre again, this time with a modernist vision of Romeo and Juliet. It has taken about six weeks of solid work, not just from the dancers and the artistic staff, but also the technical team and costume departments, who have been reinvigorating the sets and costumes. The Company orchestra has also been in rehearsal with the beautiful Prokofiev score. It has been this week that all of these aspects of theatre have finally come together, and I can happily say I couldn't think of a better place to be.
 
Before we opened on Saturday night, we ran the ballet a total of six times, two for each cast, so we were well and truly ready for an audience.The last week before you go onstage is an interesting time: you know all your steps and are physically well rehearsed, you have decided on your characterisations, but this is where it becomes tricky. Some small gestures or movements that you were using in the studio which worked so well to tell your story don’t work on stage and so have to be adjusted. On top of this, you don’t want to peak to soon.
 
When we do such long runs of a character ballet,
it is very easy to become complacent and stale, so you have to constantly reanimate your character. This of course is one of the joys of performing a character ballet, a continual exploration of the plays text and of yourself to reinterpret and ‘feel’ the characters.  
 
The Glasgow week has gone very well, once again the audiences have been so warm and supportive in our ‘home’ town. So now we strike out on tour…
                                                                                                                                                                    [Right: Tama Barry as Tybalt in Krzysztof Pastor's Romeo and Juliet. Photograph by Andrew Ross.]

Print posted @ Tuesday, April 27, 2010 11:11 AM

 

 

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