SEATTLE — It’s easy to assume the reason Pacific Northwest Ballet cautions against bringing children to its current production of Jean-Christophe Maillot’s “Romeo et Juliette” is, well, the story’s tragic end.
However, on Monday, after watching Bernice Coppieters — Maillot’s muse and his original Juliette — coach PNB’s Noelani Pantastico and James Moore in the title roles, I decided that the real reason is the ballet’s profound and beautiful erotica.
After the long, kid-focused run of “The Nutcracker,” this production is PNB’s gift to adults, as well as fans of Maillot’s contemporary interpretation of Shakespeare’s tale of forbidden young love set to the masterful music of Sergei Prokofiev.
The production runs through Valentine’s Day.
The three-act ballet premiered in 1996 by Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, where Maillot is resident choreographer and artistic director. Grounded in classical ballet, Maillot’s choreography “is imbued with natural and intuitive movement that feels progressive and expands margins of expression,” as described in a PNB news release.
Maillot has said that he structured the action much like a cinematic narrative to Prokofiev’s glorious score. And rather than focus on the feuding clans of the story, Maillot chose to highlight adolescence, with all of the contradictory impulses that come with this time of life, such as fear and infatuation.
PNB gave Maillot’s ballet its West Coast debut in 2008. And now it is back in repertory.
Principal ballerina Pantastico, in the leading role of Juliette, also has returned to PNB.
From Oahu, Hawaii, she attended summer courses at Pacific Northwest Ballet School and joined PNB as an apprentice in 1997. She was promoted to the corps de ballet in 1998, soloist in 2001 and principal in 2004. She left PNB in 2008 to join Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo as a soloist. This past year, Pantastico returned to PNB as a principal dancer.
Pantastico obviously understands Maillot’s choreography, and that appreciation is there with every facial expression and turn of her hand.
Still, when Coppieters coached Pantastico on Monday, the acting nuances were refined and the staging solidified.
A San Francisco native, Moore, who dances the role of Romeo, joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 2004 and was promoted to soloist in 2008 and principal in 2013.
Together Moore and Pantastico are joyful, amazing and believable in every step as they respond to each other, first as kids having fun and then as lovers who ache for each other.
A recurring element of Maillot’s choreography is the hand that becomes a fish or a bird, as a metaphor for emotions run wild.
“It’s not your hand,” Coppieters reminded the dancers. “Keep your eye on it. Watch it. Oui, bon, voila!”
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.
If you go
Pacific Northwest Ballet presents “Romeo et Juliette” at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Feb. 6 and performances at 1 and 6:30 p.m. Feb. 14 at McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St., Seattle Center. Tickets range in price from $30 to $187. Call 206-441-2424 or go to www.pnb.org.
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