This season my grandmother and I subscribed to the Washington Ballet, and yesterday we attended the opening show - Septime Weber's translation of Romeo and Juliet.

My response to the ballet is, as usually, fractured. Weber himself left a sour taste in my mouth when he introduced the play and proclaimed that the story of Romeo and Juliet had nothing to do with fate (ok), and that they were instead "young people who were very much in love" yet faced a number of opposing forces.

And my usual problem with the play kicked in: Very much in love. After meeting once. Real love, between a thirteen-year-old girl and a twenty-year-old young man.

The ballet itself was amazing. Weber's choreography was breathtaking, and Sergei Prokofiev’s score is perfectly haunting. As usually, Mercutio and Tybalt were my favorite roles (Tybalt was performed by the man pictured above with Juliet), but Romeo himself (Brooklyn Mack) was powerful and honest, and mesmerizing. Initially, I was not pleased with the seemingly-shallow and emotionally-devoid performance by Juliet, but as the ballet continued my opinion changed, and I think the ballerina perfectly captured the emotions of each scene, while reflecting on the youth and circumstances that lead there.

In the end, I have to say that the Washington Ballet's production of Romeo and Juliet is highly successful, and I can't wait to return for "The Nutcracker."