Denis Matvienko, Anastasia Matvienko and Maribor Ballet in Radio and Juliet

Denis Matvienko, Anastasia Matvienko and Maribor Ballet in Radio and Juliet, music by Radiohead, choreography by Edward Clug. Taken at Savcor Ballet 2013, Mikkeli, Finland.

Radio and Juliet is an hour long ballet created in 2005 for the Slovenian company Ballet Maribor. It was directed by Romanian dancer and choreographer Edward Clug. The ballet is a rendition of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet set to the music of Radiohead. Since 2005 Radio and Juliet has guested in many leading Ballet Theatres all over the world. Noted for the ballet’s choreography and simplicity, Radio and Juliet represents a modernized interpretation of Shakespeare. As stated by Edward Clug, “You could call this quite a twisted version… My intention was not to retell the story but offer the audience an experience from a different perspective.”

Edward Clug (born in 1973 in Beiuș, Romania) is an independent dance choreographer in the field of contemporary ballet and a director of Maribor Ballet. Clug studied classical ballet in Cluj-Napoca. In 1991 Clug joined Maribor’s Slovene National Theater (SNT) as a Principal Dancer. In 1996, the Slovene National Theater commissioned Clug to choreograph his first ballet called Babylon by Tomas Pandur. Clug’s first full evening ballet, called Tango, premiered at SNT in 1998. Continuing his relationship with the Slovene National Theater, in 2003 he was appointed director of Maribor ballet and since then has also directed the Maribor ballet ensemble. He created Bachelorette for SNT in Ljubljana and Solo for two Chairs for the Ochi Ballet in Nagoya. His Radio & Juliet, choreographed in 2005 in Maribor, which toured internationally. In 2006, he created Architecture of Silence, in partnership with the Slovene National Theaters in Maribor and Ljubljana, with two choirs and two orchestras. In 2007, he choreographed Sacre du temps for Danshuis Station Zuid in Tilburg, the Netherlands, followed by: Pret-a-porter at the SNG Maribor (2008); 4 Reasons for the National Ballet of Portugal (2009); and Pocket Concerto for Stuttgart Ballet (2009). In 2011 Clug collaborated with East West Theatre Company to create two new pieces: Europe Today and Roses for Anne Teresa/Football Stories.

Photos by Jack Devant © with kind permission of the Savcor Ballet, special thanks to Sofia Rekola.