GO-- to Long Island or New Jersey for the Perm Tchaikovsky Ballet's "Romeo and Juliet"

This version of the ballet, by Russian choreographer Nikolai Boyarchikov to the Prokofiev score, inspired all sorts of thoughts that had no place in a short preview.

Was wondering whether the Russians have a greater comfort with symbolism, with showing us the inner workings of the mind or the outer workings of fate--larger or smaller than the social. It made me think, on the good side, of Balanchine's dark angel in "Serenade" and seductive dancer Death in "La Valse" and, on the bad, of the psychologism of Boris Eifman.

The Russians think of ballet as a spirtuo-aesthetic realm, art and spirit always twined, so poetry necessarily means plumbing the depths or climbing to Heaven--or, in Boyarchikov's case, both at once. Beautiful, striking choreography, I thought.

In this here featurette, I discuss the leads at Tilles, Robert Gabdullin and Yaroslava Araptanova. In the DVD I saw of a recent live show, they were very appealing. Not sure if they'll be R and J in New Jersey.

The company, which had a long history as the Perm Ballet before it became the Tchaikovsky Ballet and Orchestra, is also touring California and Connecticut in the next several weeks, I think. Sorry, no link to help out with that.