Tamara Rojo on Romeo and Juliet: 'You know the ending but hope against hope'

The first time I danced Juliet I was 19 and it was perfect for me because I believed everything that she believed in. I believed that true love was more important than social convention and that it was worth fighting, and dying, for.

That changes over the years. It becomes difficult to be Juliet when you’re not in a moment in your life when you believe this any more. We all go through that. With some roles you can imitate feelings, but Juliet has a naivety and a purity that you can’t imitate. You have to go out there on stage and genuinely find that feeling, not just replicate it. It doesn’t mean you can’t find it when you’re older, but it gets harder. It is filtered by years of experience, disillusionment, learning

I draw on the play, the words; it’s all there. You understand her temperament very quickly. She’s such a romantic. She’s willing to fall in love just touching someone’s hand – but her love is not superficial, she feels it really deeply. There’s no cynicism about it, so she goes for it. But also she has a certain determination and inner stillness; she is her father’s daughter.

The balcony pas de deux has full-­blooming love and freedom and passion, and that has to be seen in the movement. Of the four versions I’ve been involved with – by John Cranko, Derek Deane, Kenneth MacMillan and Rudolf Nureyev – the one that captures that best is MacMillan’s. It has that abandonment, that complete belief that everything is beautiful and you are invincible. You can literally jump off a bridge and he will catch you.

It’s absolutely amazing to dance. MacMillan manages to choreograph that pure joy but also that strength that comes from being in love. You don’t sleep all night and it doesn’t matter – as soon as the sun rises you’re full of energy again because you’re in love. Carlos Acosta was my Romeo for many years. He was a wonderful Romeo, because he was full of that naivety and joy in life. And I could genuinely trust him. I could throw myself in any direction and he was there to catch me. You can see in the pattern of the choreography that Juliet always takes off first, which is a clear reference to her character. She’s the driving force of this love story, she’s the doer, she’s always one step ahead of him, and that is definitely there in the choreography.

Prokofiev’s score is such beautiful, beautiful music, and it is so well structured to tell the story. The death scene is masterful. For me, you can actually hear the blood coming out of your veins, slowly, until the last drop. You can understand the rhythm of your death. It’s exhausting to perform. And you come out really, really sad. There are other characters who die but don’t feel pity for themselves. Juliet does. She understands what is being lost, so you feel the sorrow for what you’re about to sacrifice. You know how the story is going to end, but you hope against hope – it cannot be, it cannot end like this! Every time, you are hoping he’s going to find you alive.