The Romeo
The Romeo is a large-scale performance with 12 dancers where Trajal Harrell lets himself go in speculative dancing. Named after Shakespeare's hapless hero, it depicts a dance accessible to all, regardless of origin, gender and age. A dance that has always been there and that keeps reinventing itself.
Along with his usual group of dancers, with many changes of costumes and musical genres from Eric Satie to Pink Floyd, Harrell takes us through undiscovered histories with a speculative dance form (what if?) as a common thread. The Romeo is also vintage Harrell with incredible combinations of various dance languages, such as voguing, post-modern dance, Japanese butoh and ancient Greek theatre, all of it tied together with elegance and humour.
'It is a real magic trick to make people believe they are looking at something old from the present. It's all in the imagination, me playing with what I thought might be, or could have been, possible. This is the artistic manoeuvre. It is a contradiction in terms; historical imagination is always like that.' — Trajal Harrell
• The American choreographer Trajal Harrell gained global recognition with his series of works Twenty Looks or Paris is Burning at the Judson Church and is now a regular guest on the international dance and visual arts circuit. He presented CAEN AMOUR en The Köln Concert at Kaaitheater. Since 2019 is Trajal Harrell in-house director at Schauspielhaus Zürich, where he directs a dance company, the Schauspielhaus Zürich Dance Ensemble.
staging, choreography, stage design, costumes Trajal Harrell | with New Kyd, Frances Chiaverini, Vânia Doutel Vaz, Maria Ferreira Silva, Rob Fordeyn, Challenge Gumbodete, Trajal Harrell, Thibault Lac, Christopher Matthews, Nasheeka Nedsreal, Perle Palombe, Norel Amestoy Penck, Stephen Thompson, Songhay Toldon, Ondrej Vidlar | stage design Nadja Sofie Eller | soundtrack Trajal Harrell, Asma Maroof | lighting Stéfane Perraud | dramaturgy Miriam Ibrahim, Katinka Deecke | audience development Mathis Neuhaus | touring, international relations & production Björn Pätz / ART HAPPENS | production assistance Camille Charlotte Roduit | stage design assistance Eva Lillian Wagner | costume design assistant Mona Eglsoer, Monika Annabel Zimmer | production intern Maimuna Barry | inspection Aleksandar Sascha Dinevski | production Schauspielhaus Zürich with the Schauspielhaus Zürich Dance Ensemble | co-production Festival d’Avignon, Holland Festival (Amsterdam), Singapore International Festival of Arts, Berliner Festspiele, La Villette (Paris), Festival D’Automne à Paris, Comédie de Genève, La Bâtie-Festival de Genève, La Comédie de Clermont-Ferrand scène nationale, TANDEM – Scène Nationale (Douai), December Dance - Concertgebouw and Cultuurcentrum Brugge | supported by Trajal Harrell Schauspielhaus Zürich Dance Ensemble Fan Club
