Professional ballet dancers spend much of their careers playing fictional characters. For the female dancers, there are swans and sugar plums and

celebrated damsels under duress, like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. For the men, the roles include various princes and kings and literary characters, like Peter Pan, Romeo and, lately, Dracula.

But Colorado Ballet’s upcoming production of “Casanova” gives the performers a chance to play real people who existed in history. In this case, the notorious, and notably flirtatious, Venetian playboy named in the title, along with various supporting characters he consorted with along the way.

These figures are, no doubt, larger than life, but they still demand to be played as the flesh-and-blood beings they were. They require more acting and reaching for depth of character.

That’s true for both Jonnathan Ramirez, who dances the lead role, which includes numerous pairings that mirror the real Casanova’s famous flings with many (many) women; and for Ariel McCarty, in the role of a nun who is just as sexually energized as Casanova himself.

McCarty, a demi-soloist who has been with the company for six years, said she relished exploring her character’s duality. On one hand, the nun has a pious profession. On the other, she engineers her own schemes, using her wiles to manipulate Casanova on behalf of one of his rivals.

“She is really the only woman he has an affair with who is kind of the dominant one,” McCarty said. “She’s the one who invites him in. She’s the one who kind of takes the reins. I found that empowering.”

As for how that wild streak is interpreted in her dancing, McCarty found some inspiration in the animal kingdom. “She is kind of feral, like a jaguar,” said McCarty. “She reminds me of a cat, where she is choosing who she will play with and when.”

For Ramirez, there were many places to find acting motivation. Giacomo Casanova, who lived from 1725 to 1798, was a lawyer, a writer, an adventurer, a gambler and a scoundrel who found himself on the wrong side of the law.

“He actually went to university when he was 12 years old. So he was very smart, a brilliant man,” said Ramirez, a principal dancer in his fourth season with the company. “He was a scientist. He did it all.”

The ballet tries to capture that biography through movement, starting with a chapter in which Casanova actually entered religious life but left after being disenchanted — and, as the story goes, seduced into a life of debauchery. The piece was choreographed by Kenneth Tindall and premiered in 2017 with England’s Northern Ballet. The work is based on a book by Ian Kelly and has music by Kerry Muzzey.

The action is set in 18th-century Venice and is full of the wardrobe and set flourishes famous from that day. It’s an elaborate and colorful story ballet.

The work was well-received at its premiere and has since become a popular program item for ballet companies internationally. The Northern Ballet version was captured on film, and is currently available on Amazon Video, for anyone who wants to do a little prep watching before Colorado Ballet’s performances, which run Jan. 31-Feb. 9.

While the show attempts to present Casanova’s intellectual attributes, it does not shy away from the physical aspects its protagonist is ultimately associated with. Many people do not even know that Casanova was a real person, though his name has evolved into an adjective that the Cambridge Dictionary defines as “a man who has had a lot of sexual relationships.”

No doubt, audiences want to see some of that action, and the dance delivers. Colorado Ballet has put a warning label on the piece, noting that it might not be suitable for all audiences.

That allows — credibly, given the material — for a sensual side to the steps and risqué costuming. “There are a lot of innuendos, but it’s pretty obvious what’s happening,” said Ramírez.

The story calls for Casanova to perform for the audience in nearly every scene of the two-hour show, taking on endless pairings with female partners. “I’m either shirtless or naked on stage,” said Ramirez. “Sometimes, I have a vest, but always my chest is exposed.”

That is a very different part of the job for both Ramirez and McCarty, who have performed in fairy-tale ballets like “The Nutcracker” so many times they could do the movements in their sleep.

“Casanova” is earthier, sexier, though the dancers really just try to do their parts naturally and professionally. When audiences see “hesitation or awkwardness, that takes away from the story,” said Ramirez. Both dancers said they just trust their talents and instincts. It’s not so different than finding the soul of any character.

“As humans, the sexual aspect of it is something that we all have experienced through our lives,” said Ramirez. “So it’s nothing new.”

They also trust the choreographer, the production managers and their fellow dancers to pull it off with elegance and finesse. Many of the members of this company have worked together for a long time; they know each other’s styles and skills.

“We have a lot of respect for each other. So it doesn’t feel weird,” said McCarty. “Because you do have to be vulnerable to go so far into something this intense.”

Ray Mark Rinaldi is a Denver-based freelance writer specializing in fine arts.