Scottish Ballet’s Pioneering Dance Film from BAFTA Winning Director Debuts in UK & Irish Cinemas

Today Scottish Ballet and Forest of Black are delighted to announce a special partnership with Tull Stories to release their dynamic dance feature film THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS in UK cinemas from 21st October. An intoxicating and beautifully re-imagined unconventional retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, it is a visually ambitious ballet feature production exploring identity, love and transformation through movement, by the BAFTA and multi award-winning director Oscar Sansom (Biffy Clyro: A Celebration of Endings) and the multi award-winning CEO/Artistic Director of Scottish Ballet, Christopher Hampson CBE (English National Ballet, Scottish Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet, Atlanta Ballet).

These Violent Delights will also mark its World Premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival this August, before going on general cinema release in the UK and Ireland from 21st October. The film, based on Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, was shot across various locations in Scotland and takes us into the world of Juliet’s fever dream. Having established a name for creating innovative dance on screen, this is the company’s first major feature-length film.

In this vivid, contemporary re-telling without words, Juliet awakens from a fever dream. The lines between hallucination and memory blur as cinema and dance collide in a kaleidoscopic journey of belonging, defiance and self-discovery as fate is rewritten on the dancefloor.

Christopher Hampson, Director and CEO/Artistic Director of Scottish Ballet, said:

‘The idea came about from thinking about a version I’d done of Romeo & Juliet as a ballet where I was always struck by the third act that it’s basically Juliet’s story. The film is a Romeo and Juliet story told very much from the viewpoint of Juliet and their reminiscences, their remembering and misremembering in real time. It’s probably only two or three minutes of Juliet’s awakeness, but the film delves much deeper into their unconsciousness. Scottish Ballet has made a name for itself in dance film over the last ten years, winning awards for short films and digital innovation, but this is on a whole other level, and I’m thrilled we’ll be in cinemas across the UK, reaching new and established audiences.”

Oscar Sansom Director, said:

“There’s something interesting about working with a classic tale that is so ingrained within people, which almost gives you liberty to be a bit more creative and take a few more risks in how you retell it. We spoke about what elements of the story we don’t get to see and arrived at the idea of Juliet’s fever dream when they’re asleep at the end of the story. Compared to dialogue, physical movement can have a more direct connection to emotion. I feel like dreams are the same thing – they don’t often make narrative sense, but they make emotional sense. And I think that really works for how we use choreography in the film.”

Kayla-Maree Tarantolo, ‘Juliet’ (and soloist with Scottish Ballet) said:

“I put my everything into this role. Julia Cheng’s process was different to the rest I’ve had in my career, mainly because we went off emotion first. We picked three emotions and created the steps from that which really helped to make it my own. There are so many Juliets and it’s been done so many times, so this made it really authentic and mine and that’s where the magic happens because if you’ve got the emotion first, the steps can just come after. We wanted to make our version of Juliet strong and confident but also super vulnerable. One specific scene which I think really shows off our Juliet is when they’re in their bedroom and basically just dancing for themselves in the mirror just showing that they do have confidence and they know who they are – that really just embodies our Juliet.”

Jonny Tull, Founder of Tull Stories said:

“These Violent Delights is a feast for the senses. This electric retelling of the Romeo and Juliet story will delight fans of cinema and the arts, kindle passions and truly inspire audiences. Tull Stories is overjoyed to partner with Scottish Ballet to bring this remarkable work to screens all over the UK and Ireland.”