When Romeo Met Juliet

Photography and words by Zarina Holmes

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The Royal Opera House, London. February 2009. The Ballet Bag writers, Emilia Ferraz Spitz and Linda Uruchurtu, had a brilliant idea for their Valentine’s Day edition.

They wanted to do a piece on The Royal Ballet principal dancers, Thiago Soares and Marianela Nuñez, who are engaged to each other and would be performing as Romeo and Juliet at The Royal Opera House on Valentine’s eve.

The Ballet Bag is a cult blog on ballet that has a massive followings from die-hard ballet fans and dancers. “We want some Twilight shots,” said Emilia to me. By that she meant a Rob Pattinson-Kirsten Stewart type of burning chemistry. I made a mental note.

The Brazilian-Argentinian duo is the London ballet power-couple at the moment. During the interview, they couldn’t have been more down-to-earth.

“I listen to rock music,” Marianela announced. She has a tender, youthful beauty. But when she stood on her toes to pose, I was taken aback. “Wow, you’ve grown taller suddenly,” I said, backing away to adjust my view. She laughed. I didn’t realize how ballet dancers could extend their bodies so much longer than ordinary people. She looked perfect like a doll and… strong.

Thiago was a calming presence. A thinker and contemplative personality. He told us while studying ballet in Brazil, he would only change into his dancing gear on arrival to avoid unwanted attention from the suburb. A bit like Billy Elliot. His charm is natural.

I didn’t have long to shoot. They were like any other lovely young couple. Fun, teasing and actually a bit coy about being asked to pose together. It’s easy to photograph beautiful people, but capturing chemistry is quite something else. I saw a lot of trust between them. In the way they placed themselves in each others’ arms to create magnificent forms.

Soon, we were asked to wrap up by the press officer. “Let me try holding her face,” said Thiago. He held Marianela’s delicate face in his hands. She gazed into his eyes. After a second they burst out laughing, as if they just did a ridiculous thing. He dropped the Romeo act, squeezed Marianela in a bear hug and kissed her forehead.

I made another mental note. Power couples are first and foremost, best friends.

Read the interview on The Ballet Bag.

Photos © Zarina Holmes.