With its pas­sion­ate choreog­raphy by Helgi Tómas­son, spine-tin­gling swordsman­ship, and cel­ebrated score by Sergei Prokofjev, this pas­sion­ate retelling of the great­est tragic love story is revived by the San Francisco Bal­let and the San Francisco Bal­let Or­chestra led by Mu­sic Di­rector & Principal Con­ductor Mar­tin West.

What Tómas­son wanted to do was draw char­ac­ters in detail; in his Romeo & Juliet the char­ac­ters are as clearly etched in move­ment as they are depicted in words in the play. “I thought it was nec­essary to convey that because it’s not just Romeo and Juliet, it’s the people around them that make the story hap­pen,” Tómas­son says. “Tybalt has to be a hot­head; he has to be a bully in many ways, to ev­erybody out­side his clan. There were things that had to come through so that the whole thing makes sense. It’s not an abstract, make-be­lieve story or fairy tale; it’s a human story. This could be today, anywhere.”

Tómas­son’s production of Romeo & Juliet, the time­less Shakespeare­an tale of tragic first love, pre­miered in 1994. Since then, the work has won au­di­ence and crit­ical acclaim, with the San Francisco Chron­icle noting, “Whether it's high-flying, sweet romance or gritty sword fights, there is more than a lit­tle some­thing for ev­eryone in San Francisco Bal­let’s Romeo & Juliet.”

Lincoln Center at the Movies: Great American Dance is brought to se­lect cin­emas nationwide on September 24 at 7:00 pm by Fath­om Events and Lincoln Center.

FROM THE WAR MEMO­RIAL OPERA HOUSE

Helgi Tómas­son, choreog­raphy

Sergei Prokofjev
Romeo & Juliet
based on the story by William Shakespeare

San Francisco Bal­let Or­chestra
Mar­tin West, con­ductor
Jens-Jacob Worsaae, production and costume design
Thomas R. Skelton, light­ing design
Mar­tino Pi­stone, fight scene choreog­raphy

Cast
Maria Ko­chetkova, Juliet
David Kara­petyan, Romeo
Pascal Molat, Mer­cutio
Joseph Walsh, Benvo­lio
Luke Ing­ham, Tybalt
Ricardo Bustamante, Lord Capulet
Sofiane Sylve, La­dy Capulet
Anita Pa­ciotti, Nurse
Myles Thatch­er, Paris