Happily Ever After?
As a dance major at Barnard College and an intern at Pointe magazine, I am interested in all aspects of ballet. So I was thrilled to attend the International Symposium of Russian Ballet at Columbia University October 12-13. Famed dance critics and historians spoke about the history of ballet and of those involved in making it what it is today. Topics included the life of Serge Diaghilev, Russian dancers in Hollywood, Petipa’s performance traditions in Russia and the West and the original happy ending in Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet.
It was wonderful to learn the history of ballets I had seen and danced many times. I never knew that there was an alternative to the tragic ending of the ballet Romeo and Juliet, which has slightly different music. In this version, which never made it to the stage, Friar Lawrence returns after Romeo sees Juliet and prevents him from killing himself. The Kirov Ballet asked Prokofiev to rewrite the ending, and the ballet premiered in 1940. Simon Morrison, associate professor of music at Princeton University, spoke about the ending and is currently collaborating with choreographer Mark Morris on a staging of the original version that will be presented in 2008 at Bard College.
