Support America’s National Ballet Company® DONATE NOW

Blog

Behind the Ballet with Elizabeth Kaye

Photo: Patrick Frenette.

July 5, 2024

Behind the Ballet with Elizabeth Kaye

Romeo and Juliet

In this installment of Behind the Ballet, Elizabeth Kaye revisits the creation of The Royal Ballet (1965) in the wake of World War II, which sought to bring back “what was lost after the war—the gentleness of life.” Kaye then explains how Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy is translated into movement through four heart-wrenching pas de deux and three acts of forbidden young love that reveal the universal language of ballet in Romeo and Juliet.