Bitef

ROMEO AND JULIET Angelin Preljocaj presents a rereading of his own ballet Romeo and Juliet produced 5 years ago for the Lyon Opera Ballet. Bearing the stamp of his Albanian origins and culture, he then chose to set this universal love story in the totalitarian regime of an East European country. It was not a question of a fight between clans as tradition would have it, but of confrontation between the militia responsible for keeping social order and the „family" of the homeless, on the fringe of society, that Angelin then imagined such a premonition. Now, the historical context has changed and time has caught up with intuition: the phenomenon of the homeless is now very real, the Berlin Wall has come down and Enki Bilal’s decor is to be transformed; Angelin's dance itself has changed; this time he is confronted by the dancers of his own company, interpreters “broken in” to his work with whom an artistic complicity has been established over the course of time and in succesive creations. There can thus be several versions, each carrying its own interpretation; each Romeo, each Juliet, is different. There will be several casting arrangements within the company. This is not a question of antagonism but, quite to the contrary, of a constant mirror game in which each is enriched by the vision of the other, where the role of the interpreter takes on its full sense towards a wide circulation of works and a development of the dance in general.

ANGELIN PRELJOCAJ ON ROMEO AND JULIETTE „In an improbable Verona, not futurist but imaginary, somewhat dilapidated but sheltering a privileged and controlling class (Juliet's family) as well as a fairly miserable and exploited population (Romeo's environment), it is forbidden and illegal for the lovers to meet. The strong-arm regular militia, made responsible by Juliet's family for maintaining the social order, is not only the Shakespearian image of inevitability, but also the effective ascendancy of power over one of the essential liberties of the individual; the freedom to love. Romeo and Juliet, not without possible compromises, both refuse to accept the lifestyle laid down for them in their social strata, strata which cannot communicate with each other according to the militia of conscience, and it is from this that the scandal of their love arises. Both would like to be elsewhere, both feel the need to break away, each aspires to what the other has. And herein lies their mutual attraction. The passion they feel for each other will enable them to leap their boundaries and dare to escape the fate which had been marked out for them.” Angelin Preljocaj