‘Romeo & Juliet’ Preview: Love and Politics Told Through Dance

A brand-new medium. An age-old story. “Romeo & Juliet,” a contemporary dance-theater adaptation of the classic Shakespearean tragedy, will run at the Loeb Ex from Nov. 14 to Nov. 17. Directed by Adrienne L. Chan ’25 and choreographed by Chan and Jimena M. Luque ’25, this retelling blends ballet and contemporary dance to deliver a love story that is both deeply personal and invokes broad questions of agency, naivety, love, and politics at a time when these issues are more relevant than ever.

Dance is the unique medium that underscores this production of “Romeo & Juliet,” set to Sergei Prokofiev’s ballet score. A combination of ballet, contemporary dance, and Latin social dancing, the production discards Shakespeare’s script and tells its story entirely through movement. This narrative dance style is relatively new to Harvard’s theater scene, falling somewhere between a musical, ballet, and drama. The interdisciplinary form introduces a new depth to the classic love story.

“Dance is a stage performance, a performance art. It tells a story in a very different way than theater,” Sachiko J. Kirby ’26, who plays Juliet, said.

One of the production’s most engaging aspects are the dance fight scenes, in which the ensemble’s movements are balanced between moments of chaos and synchronicity.

“It’s not really fight choreography because it’s more dance-type choreography to resemble a fight,” Chan said. “And it’s actually very collaborative. But it’s very dynamic and very exciting — I almost want to say it looks a little bit real.”

The intense, convincing body language of Tybalt (Caitlin Lewis, a student at the Graduate School of Education) and Mercutio (Mia Steis, a Boston University student) aim to make these scenes the most engaging parts of the show — for both the audience and the actors.

Meanwhile, the pas de deux — ballet duets between Romeo (Elio R. Kennedy-Yoon ’25) and Juliet — throughout the work use dance to build chemistry between the characters and provide a uniquely convincing picture of the authenticity of their love.

While some productions of “Romeo and Juliet” are driven by cynicism, arguing that the lovers were young and foolish, this cast takes a different approach. As the characters’ body language slowly opens up and begins to flow with each other, their relationship presents as slow and genuine. Movement conveys the emotions between the two lovers in a way that moves beyond the original script.

In a production with no words, costumes also play an important role in propelling the narrative. Amidst a papery white set by Harvard Graduate School of Design students Benson Joseph and Parinda “Pin” Sangkaeo, costume designer Miriam D. De La Rosa ’27 strategically utilizes pops of color to clarify key characters without ever naming them.

For example, the Montagues carry blue handkerchiefs on white clothing, with significant characters like Mercutio wearing blue shirts, while the Capulets carry pink handkerchiefs and dress in varying tones of pink and red. Juliet’s primary costume — a simple, flowing, light pink dress — both depicts her as the perfect lead ballerina and fits into the set’s fairytale-esque design.

Amidst the tumultuous political landscape in the U.S., the production hopes to emphasize a message of optimism — although some modern critics claim that Romeo and Juliet are naively optimistic and the cause of their own problems.

“I don’t think [Romeo’s optimism] is a bad thing,” Kennedy-Yoon said. “I think it reflects more on the condition and state of the world that we live in that it might be a bad thing.”

Romeo’s character development, as seen in the transformation of his dances from light and playful to intense and dramatic, is one of the most poignant aspects of the show. As Romeo is forced to grapple with the darker aspects of reality, including the senseless violence he witnesses, he sacrifices the hope that he cherishes at the beginning of the story.

The seminal question that the production tackles is not contained to the tragic fate of Romeo and Juliet’s relationship. It aims to investigate what the interactions between their love and the cruel politics of their world tell us about our own world.

“What decisions can we make to honor the rights of children and people to love as they love?” Chan said.

An optimistic retelling of Romeo and Juliet’s cosmic, wild, and uncontrollable love may be exactly what Harvard audiences need to renew their hope for a brighter future and identify the right choices needed to get there.

“Love is the medium with which we envision an ideal future for ourselves, for our children, and politically,” Chan said.

“Romeo & Juliet” runs at the Loeb Ex from Nov. 14 to Nov. 17.