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'Romeo and Juliet'

Based on the tragedy by William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet  is one of the most acclaimed works of Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev.

The creation of this ballet was full of difficulties. The Kirov Theatre in Leningrad in 1934 commissioned Prokofiev a work, but when he proposed the theme of Romeo and Juliet the theater refused it. The composer then signed a contract with the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow to represent the ballet, but this couldn’t be either as the dancers refused to stage it given its rhythmic complexity.

Finally it was released in 1938 in Brno (Czech Republic ), where it was well received. In Russia it was not released until 1940 at the Kirov Theatre and in 1946 at the Bolshoi Theatre.

This montage of Romeo and Juliet is a production of the Moskow State Ballet, with direction and choreography by Luidmila Titova and soloists of Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow: Maria Allash, Chinara Alizade, Marianna Ryzhkina, Andrei Merkuriev and Alexander Smoliyaninov.