Polunin/Cojocaru/Kobborg, Romeo and Juliet, RAH

Romeo and Juliet is the ultimate romantic tragedy; Sergei Polunin, a preternaturally talented ballet dancer with an erratic backstory, could be seen as the ultimate romantic hero (or anti-hero, depending on your point of view).

Certainly, his legions of mostly female fans display fierce loyalty to their idol; they, and many other balletomanes, will be beating a path to the Royal Albert Hall next winter for a one-off performance of a new version of the star-cross’d lovers' immortal tale.

This is a new version of the ballet, produced and choreographed by the Danish dancer Johan Kobborg, and starring his life partner Alina Cojocaru as Juliet.

Kobborg, a former star dancer and, incidentally, Cojocaru’s first on-stage Romeo, uses Prokofiev’s eloquent score, as did so many other choreographers before him, including Kenneth MacMillan in the Romeo and Juliet that Cojocaru and Kobborg used to dance when they were members of the Royal Ballet.

This new version, though, is Kobborg’s own. Premiered to acclaim a couple of years ago at the vast Arena di Verona, it follows Shakespeare’s story and uses the language of classical ballet, infused here and there with his own twists to bring it up to our times.

As the Italian magazine Danza & Danza put it in its review of the Verona performance: ‘Kobborg’s Romeo and Juliet flows between past and present, between medieval tones and modernity.’

Alina Cojocaru transcends all superlatives. A magnificently expressive dancer, with a technique to match, and the looks of a fragile waif, she is a perfect Juliet: innocent, passionate, headstrong, her final moments heartrending.

Polunin looks the part, and his dancing appears to have recovered some of its original brio as a result of his association with the consummate professional that’s Johan Kobborg.

This Romeo and Juliet involves a full company, and has a striking set by the Canadian-based sculptor David Umemoto.

Note: children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult