John Cranko's Romeo & Juliet - BLU-RAY

55 years after it's premiere, the Stuttgart Ballet revisits John Cranko's legendary InchRomeo and JulietInch - the very choreography which laid the foundations for the InchStuttgart Ballet MiracleInch, the company's meteoric rise to fame. Vividly etched characters, breathtaking pas de deux, dashing sword fights, colorful ensemble scenes, magnificent sets and costumes evoking the sunlit streets of Verona - all this is Cranko's InchRomeo and JulietInch. John Cranko, who led the Stuttgart Ballet from 1961 until his death in 1973, created the choreography of InchRomeo and JulietInch especially for his ensemble. Set to Sergei Prokofiev's rich score, Cranko's ballet is one of the definitive versions of the Shakespearean love tale being performed around the globe today. This production is marked by yet another anniversary Marcia Haydee, Cranko's muse and prima ballerina, was the very first, highly acclaimed Juliet. Haydee, who followed Cranko as artistic director of the Stuttgart Ballet, participates in this performance as Julia's nurse, celebrating her 80th birthday on stage. She is joined by two other stars of the ensemble, Haydee's former dance partner Egon Madsen as Friar Lawrence and Artistic Director Reid Anderson as Lord Capulet. As danced by the Stuttgart Ballet - one of the world's leading ballet companies - this performance is Incha revelationInch (Daily Express).

From grand spectacles to poignant close-ups, experience Helgi Tomasson's bravura interpretation of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet like you've never seen it before. With passionate choreography, spine-tingling swordsmansip, and a celebrated score by Sergei Prokofiev, San Francisco Ballet's passionate retelling of the Bard's greatest tragedy has packed houses around the world. Romeo & Juliet is one of the Company's most popular and widely toured ballets and has been seen by more than 200,000 people since it premiered in 1994. Choreographed by Helgi Tomasson, with sets and costumes by Jens-Jacob Worsaae, this visually stunning production and the brilliant dancers of San Francisco Ballet bring this powerful and touching tragedy - and Renaissance-era Verona - vivdly to life. InchTomasson lifts Shakespeare's complex and familiar language off the gilded pages and translates it into lucid classical choreography that is visceral, fresh, and ultimately sublimeInch (Huffington Post).

Shakespeare's play InchRomeo and JulietInch has inspired generations of artists to adaptations like scarcely any other work. In his colorful, passionate music, the Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev brilliantly captured the clash of love and hatred, and the proximity of tenderness and violence. Inspired by Prokofiev's vivid music and the timeless quality of Shakespeare's tragedy, choreographer Christian Spuck and the Ballet Zurich narrate the most famous love story in world literature using strong images that are full of enthralling theatricality and touching emotion. Michail Jurowski, a true Prokofiev expert, is at the rostrum of the Philharmonia Zurich.