Feature: Leading Portuguese choreographer brings an edge to classic Romeo and Juliet

Renowned Portuguese choreographer Rui Horta has revived Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in Lisbon.

The 18 dancers from the Companhia Nacional de Bailado, all wearing unpretentious black outfits to contrast with a white scenario, offer the audience a heavy dose of tension, with live music by Bruno Pernadas.

The piece is based on the forbidden love story of Renaissance-era aristocracy, with hatred predominating throughout.

"My version is a more gloomy reading, perhaps because I am tired of people around me thinking of a romantic version (of the play)," Horta tells Xinhua.

Horta wanted to make a timeless piece while emphasizing that Romeo and Juliet was not a happy love story, and requested all dancers wear almost soldier-like outfits, designed by Ricardo Preto.

"The piece is faithful to the idea (of Shakespeare) but in fact if we think about the context, in three days around six people die, which means two funerals per day, so it isn't really all that joyful. It is extreme, of great tension between love and hatred," he explains.

There are plenty of violent scenes re-created, like when the houses of Montague and Capulet are immediately put at odds and the dancers are seen fighting and confronting the enmity between their families.

"There is a romantic side to it too but it is a dark piece," he adds. "There is purity and love in the piece but it is always a confrontation... and the lovers are always talking about impossibility."

He also made some notable changes to the play. Rather than ending with Romeo and Juliet dying, as in Shakespeare's original play, Horta decided that they would go crazy.

The piece premiered on International Dance Day, on March 29 and intended also to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death.

Horta is a leading Portuguese choreographer who began dancing at the age of 17, taking studies at Lisbon's Ballet Gulbenkian.

He had pursued his career in New York, where he also taught contemporary dance, and was later invited to start the S.O.A.P residency in Frankfurt.

He has won numerous awards including the Grand Prix du Concours de Bagnolet, the Bonnie Bird Award and the German Producers Prize, and has taught at prestigious schools around the world including at the Laban in London and at the Conservatoire National de Paris.

In 2000, he set up a cross-disciplinary research and residency center, Espaco do Tempo, in Montemor-o-Novo, around 100 km south from Lisbon, in a 16th century monastery.

His pieces still tour prestigious theatres around the world.

Horta's Romeo and Juliet will be performed at the Teatro Camoes until May 15 and at Teatro Nacional D. Maria II from July 14 to 23. Enditem