“Love & Desire,” by Hamish Bowles, was originally published in the April 2020 issue of Vogue.
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American Ballet Theater principal dancer Misty Copeland, 37, and soloist Calvin Royal III, 31, will make history this spring by becoming the company’s first African-American partners to perform the title roles in Kenneth MacMillan’s film. Romeo and Juliet. The new production, set to music composed by Sergei Prokofiev in the harsh conditions of Soviet Russia in the 1930s (and first performed at the Mariinsky Theater in 1940), was originally choreographed by MacMillan at the Royal Opera House in London in 1965, with sumptuous costumes and sets by Nicholas Georgiadis. Legendary dancers Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn received 43 callbacks on opening night. (Fonteyn, who was in his forties at the time, had seen his career reborn thanks to his partnership with Nureyev, nearly 20 years his junior.)
MacMillan’s ballet requires not only technical virtuosity, but also nuanced acting as Juliette evolves from a giddy, childlike teenager to a young woman experiencing romantic, carnal love for the first time. “Juliette is my favorite role in my repertoire, but I initially took it on without much experience,” says Copeland. It’s a role, she insists, that “you don’t know before you live it – it’s impossible to prepare for it in the studio”. And for the dancer who plays Romeo, who is on stage for much of the show: “I used to curse MacMillan,” notes ABT artistic director Kevin McKenzie, himself a famous Romeo in the 1980s. “The role is a huge physical challenge and requires confidence because endurance is an issue. You’re so tired you have to trust your technique. Calvin is at a breakthrough point. He’s definitely ready for Romeo.”
“Calvin is a spiritual dancer,” Copeland says, “and I’m so excited to give myself to him and not come with preconceived ideas but respond to the Romeo that he shows me.”
Royal remembers being a teenager at ABT’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School and watching the ballet from the wings, waiting for her moment to help her get into the carriage for the ballroom scene. “Even back then, Romeo was a dream role that I aspired to play one day,” he says. “When I found out that Misty and I were going to play together, I felt like one of those aha moments – all the stars align in such a beautiful way.
