Reflections on love and death
Though it is celebrated as one of the greatest love stories of all time, Romeo & Juliet is also among the most tragic. The story results in the death of several characters, even those in the title. But perhaps, it is its heart-breaking ending that also makes this tale so fascinating, being adapted into plays, films, paintings and even dance through the centuries. With the observance of All Souls’ Day, we share clips and photos from Ballet Manila’s various stagings of Romeo & Juliet – focusing on the sad fate of the young couple, the images coming with a fitting quote on love and death from William Shakespeare’s literary classic.
“A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents’ strife.”
– Prologue
Lisa Macuja-Elizalde and Osias Barroso Jr.
Fantasy Overture – Romeo & Juliet in An Evening of Tchaikovsky
Choreography by Sergey Vikulov
March 2004
“Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath
Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty.”
– Romeo (Act 5, Scene 3)
Katherine Barkman and Rudy De Dios
Romeo & Juliet
Choreography by Paul Vasterling
October 2015
Photo by Ocs Alvarez
“For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”
– Prince Escalus (Act 5, Scene 3)
Elpidio Magat Jr. and Nanami Hasegawa
Fantasy Overture – Romeo & Juliet in Iconic 1.0
Choreography by Sergey Vikulov
September 2018
Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
“These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume.”
– Friar Lawrence (Act 2, Scene 6)
Abigail Oliveiro and Brian Williamson
Romeo & Juliet
Choreography by Paul Vasterling
October 2015
“O happy dagger!
This is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die.”
– Juliet (Act 5, Scene 3)
Lisa Macuja-Elizalde and Rudy De Dios
Romeo & Juliet
Choreography by Sergey Vikulov
February 2007
Photo by Ocs Alvarez
“For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes
This vault a feasting presence full of light.”
– Romeo (Act 5, Scene 3)
Jessica Pearl Dames and Joshua Enciso
Romeo & Juliet
Choreography by Martin Lawrance February 2023
