Kenneth MacMillan’s tragic and romantic ballet “Manon” will be broadcast to cinemas around the world. The principal dancers include Sarah Lamb, Vadim Muntagirov, Ryoichi Hirano and Gary Avis.
A firm favorite in The Royal Ballet repertory, “Manon” depicts the powerful and obsessive love between Des Grieux and Manon.
Manon’s brother Lescaut is offering her to the highest bidder when she meets Des Grieux and falls in love. They elope to Paris, but when Monsieur G.M. offers Manon a life of luxury as his mistress she can’t resist.
With Lescauts’ encouragement, Des Grieux cheats at cards in an attempt to win Monsieur G.M.’s fortune. They are caught. Manon is arrested as a prostitute and deported to New Orleans, followed by Des Grieux. On the run, Manon dies from exhaustion in Des Grieux’s arms in the Louisiana wilderness.
“Manon” was choreographed by Kenneth MacMillan, who took inspiration from the bestselling novel by the 18th-century writer Abbé Prévost. MacMillan perfectly captures Manon’s conflict between her love for Des Grieux and her need for luxury, and uses the whole Company to create a complex portrait of Parisian high life and the squalor of a New Orleans penal colony. The ballet’s score is made up of music by Massenet, including his famous “Elégie” as the theme for the lovers.