Creating a Classic: Nureyev’s Romeo & Juliet

A score that almost never made it to the stage

In 1934, the Kirov Ballet (now Mariinsky Ballet) commissioned Sergei Prokofiev to compose a score for Romeo & Juliet – a chance for the composer, who’d spent years abroad, to reconnect with his Russian roots. He worked closely from Shakespeare’s text, giving each character their own musical theme.

But the Kirov Ballet had doubts the story’s complexity could work in a dance format, and shelved the project in 1935. The Bolshoi rejected it too, calling the score “undanceable.” It would take a small company in Czechoslovakia, Brno Ballet, to finally stage the world premiere in 1938. Only after its success did the Kirov reconsider, finally performing it in Leningrad in 1940.

A ballet created against the clock

Fast forward to 1965 when the Royal Ballet premiered their version of Romeo & Juliet, choreographed by Kenneth MacMillan; dancing Romeo was none other than Rudolf Nureyev.

Twelve years later, in 1977, Nureyev was invited to choreograph his own take on Romeo & Juliet for London Festival Ballet, as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee. His interpretation would be something very different. 

Nureyev initially considered setting his production to authentic 13th and 14th-century music, before deciding against it – worried, in his own words, that two hours of it in the theatre might prove tiresome for audiences. He settled instead on Prokofiev’s now-iconic score.

Choreographing the ballet was no easy feat. Nureyev was juggling filming Ken Russell’s Valentino alongside dance engagements with the Royal Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet and Martha Graham’s company. For the ballet’s dramatic fight scenes, he brought in fight director B.H. Barry, known for his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company and numerous Hollywood productions. Rehearsals were fast – as Nureyev only had a few weeks to put the ballet together, scenery for the London Coliseum premiere arrived late, and the ballet’s devastating final scene was never fully rehearsed before opening night. For all the complications, the performance was a triumph and the premiere was met with huge acclaim.

So what makes Nureyev’s ballet so different?

Where other productions lean into romance and lyricism, Nureyev wanted something rawer. He sought to portray a Renaissance society, marked by violence, danger and disorder.