A big helping of MacMillan is finally coming our way after a very Ashton-heavy season. Manon, one of his most famous full-length ballets, opens at Covent Garden on Thursday for a run of 15 performances and is to return during the autumn season. Having shortlisted it as one of our new season favorites we were asked via Facebook to write a post on “why Manon is supposed to be so great”. We know J-Ho would disagree, but we find MacMillan’s adult ballets seriously appealing, so we were eager to accept the challenge.
Below, in no particular order, are “10 Reasons Why We Love Manon“. Agree/disagree? Let us know via comment:
Left: Carlos Acosta as Des Grieux. Right: Tamara Rojo as Manon. Photos: Bill Cooper / ROH ©
1. The amazing Pas de Deux. They truly speak for themselves:
2. Des Grieux’s Act I solo. MacMillan found a way to use steps to convey everything about his characters. In one of the most beautiful adagios for a male dancer, Des Grieux opens up to Manon and reveals he is a romantic, a “what you see is what you get” kind of guy.
3. Manon’s coquettish signature walk en pointe.
4. The corps and character roles – the individual episodes taking place around the stage are just as interesting as the main action, so pay attention!
Artists of The Royal Ballet in MacMillan's Manon. Photo: Bill Cooper / ROH ©
5. The gorgeous music by Massenet originally arranged by Leighton Lucas, now freshly reorchestrated by longtime Manon conductor Martin Yates.
6. Drama, drama, drama! It is make it or break it in this ballet. It can fall flat with the wrong cast, but great leads bring highly individual interpretations to the story.
7. The dramatic “flips ‘n’ tosses” of the last Pas De Deux, requiring Manon to take some incredible leaps of faith.
Tamara Rojo as Manon and Carlos Acosta as Des Grieux in Manon, Act III. Photo: Bill Cooper / ROH ©
8. The costumes. Nicholas Georgiadis’s beautiful designs convey decadence in 18th century Parisian society – see for instance, Manon’s jewelry and gold embroidered dress in Act 2.
9. The complexity of Manon’s character – does she have flexible morals; or no morals at all? – How Manon is corrupted by a domineering older brother and how this all stems from MacMillan’s own personal experiences.
10. The riches to rags story. Refreshing after so many Cinderellas; not least because the underlying themes of frivolity and greed hold a mirror right back to our modern society.
And here are some of the things our tweeps love about Manon:
Thanks to everyone who contributed!
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[...] mode, we are still mulling over a season of epic drama and tragic heroines, including a long run of Manons, a gorgeous new Romeo and Juliet, plus brief encounters with the frail Marguerite from Lady of the [...]
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[...] Opera House blog. The 23-year-old has recently landed such plum roles as Lescaut’s mistress in Manon and Winter Fairy in Ashton’s Cinderella. Claire also told us about playing the Lilac Fairy in the [...]
The Royal Ballet’s Manon at BP Summer Big Screen
[...] Kenneth MacMillan 20th-century masterpiece is a signature work of The Royal Ballet. It follows the all consuming affair of a student, Des Grieux, with the beautiful Manon Lescaut – a story of passion, corruption and tragedy. Manon’s fickleness in choosing between true [...]
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Emilia
Ohh good calls again, the curtain raiser with Lescaut all by himself really is sinister, a real omen of things to come.
We shared this on Twitter yesterday and now posting the link here in case any of you are interested in diving deeper into Manon’s motivations:
http://philipkennicott.com/2009/06/28/manhandling-manon/
rose
The sinister curtain-raise to big brother crouched on the stage like a malevolent toad… the skin-creeping pas de trois between him, Manon and the old letch, complete with pointe shoe frottage moment…frisksome whores… the pass-the-parcel dance where Manon, in her moment of social triumph, is admired by a roomful of men…Des Grieux’s Act I solo, hovering between shyness and rapture…oh and Manon’s blue fur-cuffed robe *covets*
Nina
Thank you gorgeous Bag ladies! I am going to give Manon another try, and will watch one of my dvd’s tomorrow evening!!!
Emilia
Good calls guys!
@Rachel – how could we forget the tart-dressed-as-boy!! I remember this Clement Crisp review where he praises RB soloist Iohna Loots for looking like a figure right out of a Vigée Le Brun canvas in that role.
Rachel Handshaw
The pas de deux, the complex characters of Manon, Des Grieux and Lescat and the little prostitute dressed as a boy. I love her!
Katherine Barber
Not to forget Des Grieux’s Act II solo as well!
DaveM
Leanne Cope stealing the money when the police raid (or at least stealing every scene she’s in).