A new interpretation of Sergey Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, choreographed by Hungarian Youri Vamos, brings to the National Theater stage a production that simultaneously adheres to tradition and breaks new ground.

"There is big pressure in adapting a work as important as Romeo and Juliet," Vamos said in a press conference prior to the Nov. 19 premiere. The pressure comes both from the looming familiarity of Shakespeare's play and the beauty of Prokofiev's interpretation, which first debuted in the Czech lands in 1938.

The time shift, Vamos said, came from considering Prokofiev's score. The work was composed in the 1930s, and "the music has this spirit, this atmosphere." The culmination of this vision comes at the Capulet's ball in the first act, when Vamos draws a powerfully sensual and dark flamenco number out of Prokofiev's pounding score.

Vamos repeatedly cited dedication to The Bard as a driving force behind his choreography. Mere communication in a ballet as plot-heavy as Romeo and Juliet poses significant hurdles. "We have to speak without words; we have to sing with the body," he said.

In that respect, Vamos' choreography and the dancers of the National Theater make an ideal pairing. Vamos set his piece not only in a different period, but also as a real-time reflection of adolescents in love and their turbulent emotions. All the technical ballet training in the world cannot ably prepare a dancer to get that across to an audience, but the mission has been more than accomplished by the National Theater's corps de ballet.

The most striking vision of the evening comes in the diminutive form of Ivana Mikešová (pictured on the cover) as the title character. "Juliet is a real girl, not like Giselle or Odile, and must be danced as such," Varnos explained. With huge, wondrous eyes and unruly hair accented by pink ribbons and a butterfly collar, Mikešová is so convincing as a real-life 13-year-old that the effect is borderline disturbing. In a lovely dance in the first act, Mikešová's Juliet alternates between excitement and dread as she tries out her new "grown-up" dress to wear to her parents' "grown-up" party.

Vamos also has a firm grasp on his inner adolescent boy, evinced in the youthful masculinity of Romeo (a doe-eyed Matěj Urban) and his friends. From the way Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio kid and brag in horseplay, to the way the leading young man broods and exults in love, Vamos' interpretation is inspiring in its realism.

As fellow teenagers, the corps is believable and talented, although a tendency for overacting seeps from a clownish Mercutio (Alexander Katsapov), a slimy Paris (Pavel Pišan) and a thuggish Tybalt (Jiří Kodym).

Essential to the choreography and performance is the relationship of Romeo and Juliet. Vamos' masterful ability to capture a mood through movement is preternaturally matched by Mikešová and Urban's dancing abilities and tender chemistry. Like genuine adolescents, they exchange huge smiles at the ball after meeting, overflowing with the joy of newfound attraction. They aren't cool and removed dancers — they're goofy and inexperienced kids, completely enraptured with each other and the way they feel at that moment.

Their scenes together are the most captivating and beautiful of the night, as well they should be. The balcony scene — likely the most recognizable vignette from Prokofiev's ballet — stands out as wholly different from previous interpretations. Mikešová and Urban cavort with a gleeful inexperience together, and you can almost hear Juliet thinking, "I've got a boy in my bedroom!" It isn't gorgeous and smooth like most performances — but then, when are adolescents gorgeous and smooth in their courtship? This scene is danced exactly as it should be, with the utter rush and fun of first love. It's more emotional than technical, more about the characters than the movements.

That stress on feeling is continued and enhanced as the plot progresses. Romeo and Juliet's pas de deux grow more sensual as their relationship matures, more intense and grown-up with every encounter. By the morning after the consummation of their marriage, the dancing verges on the sensuality that most choreographers incorporate into the initial balcony scene. But it still includes the immaturity and beauty of youth, recently lost innocence and shared awkwardness and inexperience.