Emotional ballet premiere as the highlight of the "Romeo and Juliet" project

In addition to the content, the Plauen-Zwickau Theatre also focused on the dance performance. The ensemble led by ballet master Sergei Vanaev devoted itself to the music of Serge Prokofieff and transformed the plot into a two-act dance evening.

But let's start from the beginning: the story of "Romeo and Juliet" is well known: The children of two hostile families in Verona, Italy, fall in love, marry in secret and die tragically because the ingenious plan of a monastery friar unfortunately did not work out.
At the beginning of January, the class attended a ballet rehearsal at the Gewandhaus Zwickau in connection with the discussion on various artistic levels. Here, the class gained an insight into the scenic design, the day-to-day work of a dancer and the choreographic realization at the Plauen-Zwickau Theatre from the theater's ballet dramaturge Christina Schmidt. This was followed by a ballet training session, which is part of the dancers' daily routine so that they can warm up before rehearsals, train their muscles and find their "dancing center".

Between training and rehearsal, the stage belonged to the class. The students danced on the Gewandhaus stage. Under the direction of ballet master Sergei Vanaev, the students rehearsed a short choreography to Serge Prokofieff's original music. Insanely precise, fast in their conception and clean in their execution - the ballet ensemble also rewarded this with benevolent applause. After the rehearsal, during which we saw the entire first act danced ("unfortunately" only in training clothes and without a stage set), we had the opportunity to ask the company questions.

There was a lively exchange and many insights into rehearsal work, leisure activities and the individual meal plan were provided.

During the project week at the end of January, the class worked intensively on Shakespeare's original "Romeo and Juliet". On the one hand, this involved gaining a deeper insight into the time in which William Shakespeare lived and the special features of Elizabethan theater, and on the other, developing new scenes from the well-known play. This was then filmed. The project activities also included a visit to the costume shop and another visit to the Gewandhaus Zwickau. In both places, we were able to gain many impressions and insights - for example, we learned that the Plauen-Zwickau Theater has a total of almost 200,000 costumes in its Plauen and Zwickau collections. In the Gewandhaus, in addition to a very brief and extremely successful historical outline, we learned a lot about the rehearsal process, the work of various trades and were finally able to see for ourselves that props look deceptively real - even up close.

At the open day on Saturday morning, January 27, 2024, the guests were able to see the results of the project week for themselves (the research on the poet, the time and the scenes filmed especially and in theater costumes). Many gave positive feedback and were deeply impressed.

As the crowning glory of the tragedy study, the 9IGR students then made their way to the Vogtlandtheater Plauen on Saturday evening together with their German teacher Patrick Seidel and school secretary Michaela Franz. There they attended the premiere of the ballet "Romeo and Juliet" and finally saw the dancers of the ensemble in their unbelievably great costumes on the beautifully lit and atmospheric stage to the live music of the Clara Schumann Philharmonic Orchestra.

In the fantastic atmosphere of the theater, the ensemble showed their skills in a unique way. Deeply emotional - yes, we were in tears! - and with sometimes delicate, sometimes acrobatic movements, the company managed to dance the story of Romeo and Juliet for the audience in a unique way.

In the sold-out Vogtlandtheater, the audience could hardly keep their seats at the end. An unbelievable and deeply heart-rending cheer erupted for all the dancers and the directing and dramaturgy team. The Freie Presse even drew parallels to Hollywood in its edition of 29.01.2024! Insane, but definitely well deserved!