Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1466490
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 1 MAY 2022 4 HISTORY DANCE and theatre come together in Requiem for Juli- et, award-winning choreog- rapher Riccardo Buscarini's take on William Shakespeare's 1597 play, Romeo and Juliet. Commissioned for ŻfinMalta, Requiem for Juliet stands as a sequel to the story narrated in Shakespeare's most famous tragedy. In this work, the nar- rative is relived as an imagi- nary letter to the deceased Juliet from her bereaved mother, who is represented by the actress Charlotte Grech on stage throughout. "My big question, which cast some doubt, was: 'What else can I say about Romeo and Ju- liet?'" explains Buscarini. "My idea was a sequel, re-writing a character, giving Lady Capu- let a voice to express her feel- ings and point of view, and an opportunity to explore what is in my opinion the most im- portant theme in this tragedy: that of choice." Love and grief, gender roles, religion, and power are cen- tral themes in the play and in this adaptation. Buscarini's choreography is intertwined with voice-over text written for this work and inspired by the original play, while com- poser Alessandro Baldessari combines electronic music with Prokofiev's original score for the ballet Romeo and Ju- liet. Riccardo Buscarini is an award-winning choreogra- pher and artist with an in- terdisciplinary approach to choreography. Highlights of his career include The Place Prize 2013, MAM-Maroc Artist Meeting in Marrakech, collaborations at Summerhall (Edinburgh) and the London Festival of Architecture (2016 and 2019). Silk, re-staged by ŻfinMalta in 2019, was cre- ated for Chelyabinsk Con- temporary Dance Theater (Russia) and awarded a Gold- en Mask 2018. He regularly teaches and mentors in dance in Italy, the UK, Malta, Spain, Croatia, Sweden, Cyprus, and Russia. The production is supported by the Italian Cultural Insti- tute of Valletta. 'Requiem For Juliet' produced by ŻfinMalta