Photo by Rachel Papo

Beauty Breakdown : Re-create Juliet’s Hair from American Ballet Theatre’s 'Romeo and Juliet.'

Marissa DeSantis
Jul 20, 2018

Given that almost every ballet performance requires your hair to be in a bun, it can be tricky to master Romeo and Juliet's Italian Renaissance hairstyles. Not for ABT wig and makeup supervisor Rena Most and wig and makeup assistant Jill Haley. The duo is responsible for all three hairstyles Juliet wears onstage, following the exact looks used in the company premiere of the Sir Kenneth MacMillan ballet in 1985. Check out Most and Haley in action, below, and keep scrolling for the step-by-step breakdown.

Look 1

Photo by Rachel Papo

"Juliet starts with her hair in a high ponytail, but we also have braids with golden ribbon that are premade with fake hair to match the girls'," says Most.

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Clockwise from top left: Photo by Loreto Jamlig, Courtesy Ladies of Hip-Hop; Wikimedia Commons; Photo by Alexander Iziliaev, Courtesy Pennsylvania Ballet; Natasha Razina, Courtesy State Academic Mariinsky Theatre; Photo by Will Mayer for Better Half Productions, Courtesy ABT

The 10 Biggest Dance Stories of 2019

What were the dance moments that defined 2019? The stories that kept us talking, week after week? According to our top-clicked articles of the year, they ranged from explorations of dance medicine and dance history, takedowns of Lara Spencer and companies who still charge dancers to audition, and, of course, our list of expert tips on how to succeed in dance today.

We compiled our 10 biggest hits of the year, and broke down why we think they struck a chord:

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Christopher Duggan, Courtesy Nichols

I Am a Black Dancer Who Was Dressed Up in Blackface to Perform in La Bayadère

On Instagram this week, Misty Copeland reposted a picture of two Russian ballerinas covered head to toe in black, exposing the Bolshoi's practice of using blackface in the classical ballet La Bayadère. The post has already received over 60,000 likes and 2,000 comments, starting a long overdue conversation.

Comments have been pouring in from every angle imaginable: from history lessons on black face, to people outside of the ballet world expressing disbelief that this happens in 2019, to castigations of Copeland for exposing these young girls to the line of fire for what is ultimately the Bolshoi's costuming choice, to the accusations that the girls—no matter their cultural competence—should have known better.

I am a black dancer, and in 2003, when I was 11 years old, I was dressed up in blackface to perform in the Mariinsky Ballet's production of La Bayadère.

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