TELEVISION REVIEW : Makarova Dances Juliet in PBS’ ‘Live From Lincoln Center’

Inviting Natalia Makarova back onstage from semi-retirement for the “Live From Lincoln Center” telecast of “Romeo and Juliet,” seen Saturday on PBS, proves one thing about American Ballet Theatre: On those rare occasions when the world is watching, this company opts for the biggest, most established stars.

Not that one need apologize for the 47-year-old Russian dancer. If anything, she returned fresher and springier to the familiar production of Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s ballet than when she performed it last at Shrine Auditorium three years ago with the same Kevin McKenzie as her Romeo.

Indeed, Makarova understands MacMillan’s feminine ideal with her entire being. Whether dancing his Manon or Juliet, she knows how to unlock the secret--be it in the moments of ecstasy with head thrown back and extended hands and feet prettily turned at the joint, or in the tentative first meeting where she shyly stretches her nape and glances at Romeo sideways, or those testing steps on his arm where she swoons gorgeously into renverse turns.

Looking like a mere slip of a girl helps. But, by now, Makarova has perfected every nuance of the character. When she says, during a fascinating reminiscence screened at intermission, that she reads the Shakespeare play again and again to absorb its tone and intent, one sees living proof on camera.

Better than before, she moves believably from the sheltering breast of the nursemaid to the arms of Romeo. In delirious abandon, she entwines herself around him, her arms and legs like the tendrils of a clinging vine. And in the balcony scene it’s those impetuous arms flailing over the banister that one carries away as a memory.

An attentive, if not mesmerizing, McKenzie provided fine partnering (albeit wearing his practice pants in the last scene), while Johan Renvall made an extravagantly brash Mercutio.