Dance opera: I Capuleti e i Montecchi

Amherst College Theater and Dance Department, in collaboration with the Idan Cohen Dance Company of Israel, presents I Capuleti e i Montecchi (The Capulets and the Montagues), a dance opera that will premiere at Amherst College, April 21 & 23.

I Capuleti e i Montecchi is based on the same Italian sources as Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. In this version, the Capuleti and Montecchi are rival political factions, and not as described by Shakespeare, “two households, both alike in dignity.”  This international production presents a unique collaboration between members of the Amherst Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mark Lane Swanson, costume and set design by Suzanne P. Dougan and the internationally renowned Idan Cohen Dance Company.

In this dance opera, both the role of Romeo and Juliet are performed by women, both considered to be one of Israel’s leading opera singers: Romeo, Karin Shifrin, a mezzo soprano; Juliet, Anastasia Klevan, a soprano.

The international cast also includes celebrated artists Israeli Tenor Eitan Abraham Drori as Tebaldo; Guy Peleg Pelc, Baritone, as Capelio; and the American Bass-Baritone Enrico Lagasca as Lorenzo.

Music by Vincenzo Bellini/Libretto by Felice Romani

Amherst Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mark Lane Swanson

Directed and Choreographed by Idan Cohen

Costumes and Set design by Suzanne Palmer Dougan

Lighting design by Kathy Couch

Rehearsal Directors by Melannie Berson, Noa Shiloh

Idan Cohen Dance Company dancers: Naama Tamir, Tomer Giat, Tomer Golan, Coral Friedman, Gal Calic, Dana Zeharia.

The production is supported in part by the Israeli Consulate (NYC), The Pais Foundation (Israel), Asylum Arts, a global network for Jewish Culture, Amherst College Faculty Research Award Program, Amherst College Theater and Dance Department, and  a grant from the Harold Grinspoon Foundation.

Tickets are free, no reservation is required. For more information, call (413) 542-2277 or visit here.