'Romeo, Juliet,' lovely spectacle at the Mann

It was borderline sweltering Tuesday night, and Alina Cojocaru - the star many people had bought tickets to see - was injured weeks ago and couldn't dance. But the Royal Ballet nevertheless presented a gorgeous, richly detailed

Romeo and Juliet

at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts.

Leanne Benjamin, the tiny, dark-haired principal dancer who had taken Cojocaru's place, was an absolutely adorable Juliet - perky and impulsive, with the mercurial emotions of a teenager.

Johan Kobborg was a dashing blond Romeo who literally swept Juliet off her feet, lifting her as she bourréed toward him when they met at her family's ball.

Kenneth MacMillan's choreography makes it clear that the main characters are still quite young: Juliet plays with a doll just moments before her parents try to hook her up with Paris, and Romeo and his pals Mercutio and Benvolio are jokesters who are quick to answer insult with the sword.

The ballet is visually spectacular, with more than 40 dancers often on stage at once. There is so much to watch that one could easily miss an impressive solo at stage left while looking at a bit character dance at stage right.

The main set is an elaborate two-story structure with a dramatic staircase that divides the houses of Montague and Capulet. And the costumes are beautifully color-coded: red satins and velvets for the Capulets, golds and greens for the Montagues, while Romeo and Juliet both wear white. Despite the heavy capes and cloaks - and the fact that the air-conditioning vents on the stage were covered by the special dance floor - everyone performed full out.

The Prokofiev score was played by Philadelphia-based musicians contracted by the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia; initially, some of the quieter sections failed to project throughout the theater, but the sound improved after the first of the three acts.

Among the many excellent soloists, Jose Martin was a powerhouse as Mercutio, pulling off strong pirouettes and air turns, particularly in his Act I solo.

But the evening's highlights were the Benjamin-Kobborg duets - at the ball, the morning after their secret marriage, and, of course, the balcony scene. The last was packed with emotion. From a shy start to tentative steps toward each other and finally a dramatic pas de deux, Benjamin danced fearlessly, throwing herself from tour jetés into Kobborg's arms. Carefully engineered lifts had her draped over his body, balancing with her strong, arched back.

That lovely arched back showed up again in the final moment, as Benjamin leaned backward over her tomb to Kobborg's body beside it.