San Diego Ballet Kicks Off 2023-2024 Season With William Shakespeare’s Romeo Et Juliet

San Diego Ballet opens its 2023-2024 season with a reimagining of William Shakespeare’s Romeo et Juliet. A rapturous evening is devoted to young love and to those who remember its triumphs and tragedies.

San Diego Ballet Presents Romeo et Juliet

“Romeo and Juliet is hardly a novel idea for a ballet. I wanted to make sure that in my version of the piece, I was creating more of what Romeo and Juliet have come to mean to the general public,” said Javier Velasco, Artistic Director of San Diego Ballet. “At the beginning, one of the reasons that I originally decided to do this particular piece was that I had two dancers in the company who I felt would be perfectly cast in these parts, Stephanie and Tona.”

Artistic Director Javier Velasco’s re-staging of William Shakespeare’s masterpiece is a lush, yet intimate rumination that focuses on the inner desires of the most famous star-crossed lovers of all time. Truly poetry in motion! Velasco has created a version of the Shakespearean classic that highlights the love and desire of this tragic love story. Rather than presenting a performance set in three acts featuring macho swaggering and ponderous family feuds, Velasco has created a one act and 90-minute production that is as fast and fleeting as that first, sudden.

Romeo et Juliet performers

San Diego Ballet’s Romeo et Juliet will star principal dancers Tonatius Gomez and Stephanie Maiorano in the titular roles of Romeo and Juliet, along with featuring the Company’s professional dancers including Marshall Whiteley as Tybalt, Jonas Olivera as Mercutio, Jared Osoria as Paris, and Gian Carlo as Friar Laurence.

The romantic dance focuses on the tantalizing power of young, forbidden love that ultimately leads to the tragic death of two star-crossed lovers.

Shakespeare’s immortal tale comes to life through an exploration of the human spirit and the thrill of beautiful bodies in motion. Lush and romantic, sensual, and sublime, this stunning work will invoke the heady perfume of hushed voices at twilight, evenings filled with crescent moons, the wine of desire, and doomed promises of a love that will last forever.

Tickets and Info

San Diego Ballet’s Romeo et Juliet will take place at the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center on Friday, February 17, and Saturday, February 18. Tickets are $18-$68 with terrace, orchestra and box seating available, and can be purchased online here. Senior discounts are also available.

For more information on William Shakespeare’s Romeo et Juliet and other San Diego Ballet performances, visit here.

See you there, San Diego!