{"id":178503,"date":"2026-04-28T18:57:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T18:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/178503\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T18:57:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T18:57:10","slug":"juliano-nunes-new-romeo-and-juliet-for-philadelphia-ballet-lets-emotion-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/178503\/","title":{"rendered":"Juliano Nunes\u2019 New Romeo and Juliet, for Philadelphia Ballet, Lets Emotion Lead"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updating a beloved classic while maintaining its integrity is a delicate balancing act. Juliano Nunes, Philadelphia Ballet\u2019s resident choreographer, walks this line with his new Romeo and Juliet<\/a>. Set to Sergei Prokofiev\u2019s iconic score, the production will premiere on April 30 and runs until May 10 at Philadelphia\u2019s Academy of Music. <\/p>\n

Nunes\u2019 Romeo and Juliet doesn\u2019t make any changes to the original Shakespeare tale. \u201cIt\u2019s paying respect to where we come from without needing to reinvent the wheel,\u201d he says. But his take on the production zeroes in on the story\u2019s emotionality. \u201cSometimes we want to \u2018over-pretty\u2019 things,\u201d says Nunes. \u201cI\u2019m bringing the raw human reaction.\u201d Passion, aggression, turmoil, and euphoria collide in his retelling as Nunes lets the ballet \u201csurf\u201d between characters\u2019 motives. \u201cIt\u2019s a constant [emotional] journey. It\u2019s like a heartbeat,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

To capture that emotion, Nunes\u2019 choreography blends multiple styles, including contemporary and classical. He started with the music to create movement, pulling out rhythms and specific notes. (\u201cMusic drives all of my creations,\u201d he says.) His rehearsal process was also collaborative and instinctual, exploring the dancers\u2019 own artistic choices and feelings about the material.<\/p>\n

\"InThays Golz and Zecheng Liang in Juliano Nunes\u2019 Romeo and Juliet. Photo by Alexander Iziliaev, courtesy Philadelphia Ballet.<\/p>\n

Thays Golz<\/a>, a principal dancer portraying Juliet, says that Nunes encouraged vulnerability throughout the choreographic process. Golz has tapped into the emotion that drives her role by imagining herself living the narrative. \u201cWhen you have that dialogue in your head, it just naturally comes out in gestures and body language. It\u2019s not something artificial,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

In the era of short-form video, Nunes says that capturing audience members\u2019 attention spans can be a challenge. To keep viewers engaged, he believes that the entire ballet needs to flow, with each visual and auditory element in harmony: \u201cIn order to keep people trapped, you have to trap all their senses.\u201d Nunes\u2019 goal to keep viewers within the story is reflected literally in the set, which features a giant hand-painted book created by costume and set designer Youssef Hotait.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Nunes sees the work as a simple echo of the narrative and Prokofiev\u2019s music. Each viewer is different\u2014people will connect to the story from a different angle based on their background, he says. \u201cIf there are many layers, there are parts of it for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

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