The Romeo

Shakespeare’s mythic character in the Cour d’honneur. A name more widely known than that of Juliet, more uniting perhaps, but also more ambiguous. A great lover? An inveterate charmer? He transcends borders as the symbol of an adolescent and incandescent “till death do us part.” With that “the,” North American choreographer and dancer Trajal Harrell, currently director of the Schauspielhaus Zürich Dance Ensemble, turns Romeo into an archetype and plays with singulars and plurals, with national and cultural borders. A story contained in imaginary dances which will revive the archaic part that remains in each one of us, like the desire for a shared dream. No matter where The Romeo would have originated: imagine this dance that people of all origins, genders, and generations, of all temperaments and moods, dance when they face their tragedies and only dance. Trajal Harrell will now bring it to Avignon. And maybe that’s where the story really begins.

Interview avec Trajal Harrell

With Frances Chiaverini, Vânia Doutel Vaz, Maria Ferreira Silva, Rob Fordeyn, Challenge Gumbodete, Trajal Harrell, New Kyd, Thibault Lac, Christopher Matthews, Nasheeka Nedsreal, Perle Palombe, Norel Amestoy Penck, Stephen Thompson, Songhay Toldon
Director, choreography, set design, costumes Trajal Harrell
Rehearsals Directors Ondrej Vidlar, Vânia Doutel Vaz, Maria Ferreira Silva, Stephen Thompson
Dramaturgy Katinka Deecke, Miriam Ibrahim
Music Trajal Harrell, Asma Maroof
Complementary original music by Felix Casaer
Set design Trajal Harrell, Nadja Sofie Eller
Lighting Stéfane Perraud
Assistant director Camille Charlotte Roduit
Set design assistant Eva Lillian Wagner
Costume assistants Mona Eglsoer, Lena Bohnet
Director intern Mia Frick
Stage Manager Andreas Greiner
Set Manager Aleksandar Sascha Dinevski
Sound Manager Susanne Affolter
Technical Manager Jan Hoffmann
Lighting Manager Ulrich Kellermann
Costume and Wardrobe Managers Judith Janser, Liv Senn
Touring, International Relations and Production Björn Pätz, ART HAPPENS
Audience Development Mathis Neuhaus

Production Schauspielhaus Zürich with the Schauspielhaus Zürich Dance Ensemble
Coproduction Festival d'Avignon, Holland Festival (Amsterdam), Singapore International Festival of Arts, Berliner Festspiele (Berlin), La Villette (Paris), Festival d'Automne à Paris, La 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 (Bruges)
With the support of Trajal Harrell Schauspielhaus Zürich Dance Ensemble Fan Club, Michael Ringier and for the 77th edition of the Festival d'Avignon: Pro Helvetia Fondation suisse pour la culture 
In partnership with France Médias Monde