A Midsummer Night's Dream

A ballet interpretation of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" was the perfect performance to observe how a story can be told without words. The dancers were forced to use facial expressions, body language, and of course the music to tell the tale of three couples.
The scenes with the two couples (Hermia & Lysander and Helena & Demetrius) were very well crafted in the dance to show that they were either in love, or not in love. When Hermia cries, the dancer covers her face and throws her body forward to represent mourning.
Even comic relief was portrayed through dance by the character, Puck. His hilarious expressions and awkward body movements immediately revealed to the audience Puck's goofy spirit.
I thought it was very interesting when the set brought out a huge spider web and spider. This occured during the scene of chaos when Puck accidentally confuses the love spell. The spider web was purposely staged because it alludes to the bad. Since the story takes place in the forest, it was a reasonable and clever idea to set the mood with a gigantic spider.
Overall, I really enjoyed the ballet. I loved how the PNB was able to tell Shakespeare's story without taking away the focus on dancing. The many solos and duets showcased very, very envious ballet skills. (Did you notice their huge, muscular calves?? :D)