The French Ballet de Bordeaux presented the classic story “Romeo and Juliet” with a new spin, as they whirled across the stage at Stephens Auditorium Tuesday night.

There was no dialogue in this version of the timeless tale, but that was not a problem for this group of talented French performers. The performance lasted for nearly three hours with two intermissions.

Throughout the ballet, the use of a haunting classical music score and expressive facial gestures and dance moves proficiently conveyed the personalities and emotions of the characters.

Scenery and props were minimal but very effective. The lack of scenery in the background was made up for with the elegant classical costumes worn by the dancers.

The ballet began with a solo performed by Romeo on an empty stage. Romeo, played by Brice Bardot, leaped and twirled effortlessly across the stage.

Later, Tybalt, Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio sparred with the Capulet boys in an elaborate fight scene, complete with flurries of turns and giant leaps where the dancers seemed to suspend themselves in the air for a few seconds before making a graceful landing. The rousing music also added to the suspense and excitement of the duel. Mercutio, played by Gregory Milan, was an instant hit with the audience. He added some playfulness to the cast with his exaggerated facial expressions and movements.

Romeo and Juliet performed their first wonderful duet in the party scene. It was full of fluid vaults and lifts. In one gorgeous lift, Romeo held Juliet (played by Aline Bellardi) completely over his head as he floated across the stage.

Along with the superb dancing, the party scene’s costumes proved to be candy for the eyes. The women wore dresses made of velvet that had gracefully swirling skirts as they twirled around the stage.

There was even some humor incorporated into this tragic ballet. The audience laughed loudly during the scene in which Juliet’s nurse, who was on a mission to deliver Juliet’s note to Romeo, tried frantically to push her way through a crowd of rowdy young men who were making suggestive gestures at her.

Juliet’s burial scene established an especially haunting feeling. The stage was completely dark, except for the candles carried by mourners in black capes. The mourners raised their candles in the air and did a few sorrowful dance steps before leaving Juliet alone in the tomb.

When Romeo returned to find Juliet’s body laying lifeless in the tomb, he picked up her lackluster body and danced and swayed one last time with her in his arms before he lay her back down. He slowly sank to the floor after drinking his own deadly potion.

After waking up and finding her beloved Romeo dead, Juliet performed her last solo. It was full of turns and wild gestures that conveyed her grief. She then took Paris’s discarded knife, stabbed herself and fell slowly to the floor as the stage went completely dark.

The audience clapped enthusiastically when Mercutio came out to take his bow, and jumped up for a standing ovation when Romeo and Juliet came back on stage.

After what seemed like ten minutes of applause, the stage lights dimmed for the last time, leaving the audience with good memories of a beautifully performed ballet.