‘Restored’ video of Rudolf Nureyev’s version of Romeo and Juliet with Carla Fracci and Margot Fonteyn, now on YouTube

In 1983, Rudolf Nureyev‘s version of Romeo and Juliet was filmed in Milan, and broadcast in Italy and in Britain on Boxing day of the same year. It stars Carla Fracci as his Juliet and the extraordinary participation of Margot Fonteyn as Lady Capulet.

This cameo is rather like another wonderful homage by Nureyev when in his Paris Raymonda, with Noella Pontois, the great Yvette Chauviré made a stage comeback. This production was also broadcast in 1983.

In both ballets Nureyev, at 45, struggles to execute his own fiendishly difficult steps. Incredibly Carla Fracci was 47 when this Juliet was filmed. Noella Pontois was just a slip of a girl at 40.

Recording of the ballets have been circulating for almost thirty years, copied from early video cassettes. Neither have been issued on DVD or retransmitted, which in both cases is a great shame for balletomanes the world over.

The quality of the Romeo and Juliet video is particularly bad, but now on YouTube a colour corrected and brighter series of extracts from the ballet can be seen. Enjoy…

Playlist (8 extracts)

httpv://youtu.be/oH5o7eLecwQ

Gramilano Editor

Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Italian ballerina Carla Fracci.

Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.

He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.