The story of Romeo and Juliet was made for Birmingham Royal Ballet principal dancers Molly Smolen and Tiit Helimets, who overcame the gulf of different continents and a language barrier to meet and marry. Viv Hardwick reports.

THE passion of Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet couldn't be in more capable hands as Birmingham Royal Ballet has cast not one but three married couples to dance these lead roles at Sunderland this week.

But the gulf between one couple was almost as wide as that of the famous Montague and Capulet families that the two represent on stage. Molly Smolen is a product of the Pennsylvanian Academy Of Ballet while her husband, Tiit Helimets, grew up as a Russian-speaking student in Estonia without a word of English.

A chance meeting between the 27-year-old pair led to love and a new life together in the UK's second largest city.

"I went to Estonia as a guest artist in 1997 to perform Romeo And Juliet and met and married my husband. I don't think that our relationship was specific to these roles, but it's not uncommon for dance relationships to become real-life relationships because you have to trust your partner so much," says Molly.

So what was it about this particular Romeo which caught her attention?

"He was just such a great guy. There haven't been many problems because Tiit won over my family pretty much as soon as they met him. I think that Tiit's family still isn't thrilled that I've stolen him away. His mam and I get along but it's his grandmother who is very sad because Tiit's an only child and she's missing her grandson.

"He barely spoke English at all when we met, but he's a very talented artist so what we couldn't find in the dictionary he was able to illustrate for me. He learned so quickly and now his English is perfect."

After two months of dance, the two fell in love and the couple got engaged after eight months.

"We made a pledge that we would stay together even if we couldn't work together," says Molly. Fortunately, the couple landed work with Birmingham Royal Ballet - where US citizen Molly found a work permit harder to gain than European Tiit - and they married in Philadelphia in 2003.

"The US was a culture shock at first for him but he got used to it," says Molly.

Asked how she ended up in Estonia, she explains: "I had just left American Ballet Theatre and I was working as a guest artist for a short time and it kind of fell into my lap. A woman who was working as my coach was friends with the director in Estonia and Tiit was just out of school but already a principal with the company. The principal ballerina was nearing retirement age and they just looked ridiculous together on stage so they needed a new partner.

"As a result I was asked to come over and become his new partner."

Molly says it came as a surprise to everyone when she knew where Estonia was, unlike allegations made about Americans in general and a certain US politician in particular.

"I did not think it was in Queens (New York) as has been alleged," she laughs.

In addition to the three married women playing Juliet, Molly reveals that a further four females dance the role during a week of performances because it is so exhausting.

But she prefers dancing with Tiit and says: "We have a level of trust that wouldn't be so high with another person, so we can take technical risks because we both know the other one would be okay with it."

Asked about the effects of working and living together in a foreign country, Molly says: "Our fights in rehearsal or outside rehearsal tend to be quick and loud. We get our feelings across and then it's all over with."

The couple see their future together in the US, even though dance is particularly under funded at the moment.

Molly says of her time behind the former Iron Curtain: "Estonia was the first country to pull out of the Soviet Bloc but Tiit still has vivid memories of those times when it was compulsory to speak Russian in school. I had been to Russia a couple of times before I went to Estonia and my biggest fear was that it was going to be like Russia because I didn't enjoy my time there. The people seemed very unhappy and there was this overlying tension all the time, but Estonia seemed far more European and more progressive.

"It's a beautiful country and the capital city of Tallinn is unspoilt. Some dancers had gone out into Europe but returned to Estonia after independence to bring more contemporary ideas to the company.

"When I first met Tiit he was working not just in the ballet company but dancing as part of a cabaret on cruise ships at night just to earn a decent living... and a lot of dancers still have to do that in Estonia."

* Romeo And Juliet by Birmingham Royal Ballet runs at Sunderland's Empire Theatre from today until Saturday. Box Office: 0870 602 1130