From 13 October through 3 November 2007, exactly forty years since its world premiere in the Amsterdam Stadsschouwburg, the Dutch National Ballet reprises Van Dantzig’s production (adapted to the much larger dimensions of the Muziektheater stage), with its vibrant street scenes, stately court dances, realistic fights and, above all, the heart-rending encounters between the two Veronese lovers. For his own version of Romeo and Juliet, Van Dantzig took as his springboard the original 1940 production choreographed by Leonid Lavrovsky for the Kirov Ballet and set to Prokofiev’s eponymous music. However in comparison with the latter and other dance versions, Van Dantzig’s choreography is distinguished by a greater subtlety and psychological depth, as well as a sense of social realism. With his finely observed character sketches and sensitive mood-painting, Van Dantzig poignantly portrays the all-consuming effects of the feud between the two noble families, the Montagues and the Capulets: not just on the carefree youth and burgeoning love between Romeo and Juliet – a love that ultimately costs them their lives - but also on the lives of the ordinary people of Verona. The huge success of Van Dantzig’s production is in no small measure due to Toer van Schayk’s sets and costumes. His stage picture, with its scarlet and pastel shades, shimmers with all the vibrancy of a Renaissance painting come to life. Music by Sergei Prokofiev played by Holland Symfonia conducted by Ermanno Florio and Otto Tausk.