The Romeo

Show Dance
Dates

June 4 to 6, 2026

3 performances

Price
Regular: $54 to $74 Tx and fees incl. Youth and senior rates available

Accompanied by a dozen stunning performers, the brilliant Trajal Harrell returns to FTA with a speculative dance supposedly passed down from generation to generation. It unfolds like a ceremony from another time, backdropped by a lavish, diaphanous set

In this strange ritual, the “Romeo” travels through time to the present day. It’s a dance that seems familiar to everyone, though no one knows exactly where it comes from—a dance from the dawn of time and of the future.

A flurry of costumed figures appear in procession, a motley crew united by this dance that blurs boundaries, mixes origins, and conflates eras. Taking the audience on a thrilling musical journey, Harrell and his magnificent cast evoke the finesse of Isadora Duncan, the darkness of Butoh, and the energy of a voguing runaway in a sensual ode to freedom.

  • Duration 1h15
  • Direction, Choreography and Costume Design

    Trajal Harrell

    Interpretation

    Stephanie Amurao, Vânia Doutel Vaz, Maria Ferreira Silva, Rob Fordeyn, Challenge Gumbodete, Trajal Harrell, Thibault Lac, New Kyd, Christopher Matthews, Nasheeka Nedsreal, Perle Palombe, Stephen Thompson, Songhay Toldon, Ondrej Vidlar

    Rehearsal Director

    Ondrej Vidlar

    Scenography

    Nadja Sofie Eller, Trajal Harrell

    Soundtrack

    Trajal Harrell, Asma Maroof

    Additional Original Music

    Felix Casaer

    Lighting Design

    Stéfane Perraud

    Dramaturgy

    Katinka Deecke, Miriam Ibrahim

    Production Assistant

    Camille Charlotte Roduit

    Scenography Assistant

    Eva Lillian Wagner

    Costume Assistants

    Mona Eglsoer, Monika Annabel Zimmer

    Technichal Director and Lighting Manager

    Pablo Weber

    Sound Manager

    Susanne Affolter

    Stage Manager

    Jan Hoffmann

    Costumes and Make-up Manager

    Liv Senn

  • Production / Presentation

    Festival TransAmériques (FTA)

    Production

    Schauspielhaus Zürich

    Co-production

    Festival d’Avignon, Holland Festival, Singapore International Festival of Art, Berliner Festspiele (Berlin), La Villette (Paris), Festival d’Automne à Paris, Comédie de Genève, La Bâtie–Festival de Genève, La Comédie de Clermont-Ferrand scène nationale, TANDEM–Scène Nationale (Douai), December Dance–Concertgebouw and Cultuurcentrum Brugge (Bruges)

    Support

    Trajal Harrell Zürich Dance Ensemble Fan Club, Pro Helvetia

    Booking

    ART HAPPENS

    Tour Manager

    Cynthia Naef

    Touring Producer

    Zürich Dance Ensemble

    International Relations, Management and Production

    Björn Pätz

Related event
Not to be missed

Post-show talk with the artists

“It’s outrageous, it’s subversive, and somehow, there’s something powerfully healing and optimistic about it, in seeing the pride these dancers of differing bodies, skin tones, and genders display.”

Bakchormeeboy (Singapore)

"A world apart, one you enter as if in a dream."

Le Soir (Belgium)

The Romeo, presented in the Cour d’honneur of the Palais des Papes, rises to the vast, vertiginous scale of this extraordinary space with an exceptional cast of fifteen performers, including Harrell himself. This invitation—‘a surprise and a dream,’ in the artist’s words—opened the floodgates of a desire to stage a mythical figure, that of Romeo, in this place that serves as a vessel for multiple images and narratives: the Palais des Papes.”

Le Monde (France)

"Trajal Harrell is one of the greatest dancers and choreographers of contemporary dance."

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Germany)

“Harrell’s signature runway movement, lush and strong, had a new maturity, resulting in a dance that possessed the clarity of a jewel."

The New York Times (United States)
01/05

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