In Sergei Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet ballet, the famous Dance of the Knights is performed by the knights.
“Dance of the Knights” is the best-known movement from Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet. Its heavy rhythms, forceful brass writing, and imposing orchestral sound portray the power and ceremony of the noble knights rather than the private tenderness of Romeo and Juliet.
The movement is also known as “Montagues and Capulets,” a title linked to the ballet’s dramatic world of rival aristocratic families. The music has become familiar beyond the theater through concert performances, recordings, television, and popular culture.
A common mistake is to call it the lovers’ theme because it comes from a ballet about Romeo and Juliet. The movement instead represents public power and social hierarchy. Prokofiev completed the score in the 1930s, and the ballet was first staged in Brno in 1938.