In my Shakespeare class last night, a comment was made about Mercutio, Romeo's close friend in Rome and Juliet. Hearing Mercutio's name, and being in the Elizabethan-mindset from reading Shakespeare lately, I am compelled to post Kurt Browning's program from the mid-1990s in which he portrays Mercutio. The character of Mercutio in Shakespeare's famous tragedy is famous for making long, drawn-out speeches, most famously, the Queen Mab speech, depicted above in the cartoon. Mercutio is also known as being a jokester, a free-spirit, reckless, affable, flamboyant, and quick-witted. Incidentally, the name Mercutio is derived from the word mercurial: having an unpredictable or fast-changing mood, which is an accurate description of Mercutio's character. According to my friend Wikipedia, the word mercurial itself derives from the ancient Roman messenger God, Mercury.
(Another interesting tidbit: tonight I was on MerriamWebster.com and noticed that the word mercurial is listed on their words "trend watch." Look ups for the word mercurial have spiked as of Jan. 22. To find out why, click HERE. This is especially relevant to me because I found myself looking up the word mercurial this week because I've seen it several times used to describe Mirai Nagasu in articles about her during last week's U.S. Figure Skating Championships. I am fairly sure that I also saw that word last night in an article about Ryan Bradley in Blades on Ice magazine. It's everywhere!!)
In Kurt's portrayal of Mercutio both the music and the character of the choreography has a light-hearted, jovial, youthful, uninhibited quality, which after reading about Mercutio's character traits, seems to align quite well. Obviously Kurt did his research. I don't know for sure, but I would venture to guess that Kurt's program was inspired by a performance of the ballet Romeo and Juliet. His wife, Sonia, is a ballerina. Though Kurt's skating always has a wonderful musicality and dance-like quality, I especially notice the dance influence in this performance. I love it's detail, character, and spirit.
As always, Kurt's skating is prodigious. I love his quick, light footwork sequences and the moments when he's running across the ice that reflect Mercutio's light heartedness and good humor. His double axels are to die for (no pun intended, for sadly, dear Mercutio is killed in the play).
One note for clarification: at the beginning of this video, there is a short interview clip from Kurt describing his inspiration for his " Lightning Crashes" program by Live. I am not sure why this clip prefaces Kurt's Mercutio routine. Obviously a mix-up.
I hope you enjoy the interpretation of one of Shakespeare's most popular characters by one of skating's most popular skaters! A fitting match indeed!
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