ABT 2014 - Manon X 2

The ballets I've been looking forward to the most this season are the Cinderella that's coming up next week (I don't think I've ever seen a live Cinderella ballet before) and Manon, which I'd never seen before.  I was lucky enough to see it twice this week.  My normal subscription ticket featured the divine Diana Vishneva and Marcelo Gomes, but I also picked up a single ticket for last night's performance with my favorite ballerina, Julie Kent, and the also-divine Roberto Bolle.  Both performances met and exceeded my expectations...

I've heard about Manon for years, how it's a beautiful ballet well-suited to dancers who are also wonderful actresses.  And I love music by Massenet already, though it's interesting that the ballet Manon features none of the music from his opera Manon Lescaut.  An interesting choice, I think.  But the music in the ballet is lush, gorgeous, romantic and perfectly in keeping with Kenneth MacMillan's complex choreography for this story.

The plot is pretty simple (as most ballet plots are): a young girl, on her way to the convent, falls in love with impoverished student, but her brother wants to 'sell' her to a rich man.  She becomes the rich man's courtesan, but once she chooses love over money, lives are destroyed.  But the way the characterizations illuminate the plot is what makes Manon special.

photo credit: Gene Schiavone

Tuesday, Diana Vishneva was a wise Manon - even though she was on her way to a convent, she knew her power over men and enjoyed using it.  So her becoming a courtesan was not entirely unexpected, even given her love for Des Grieux, thrillingly (as always) played by Marcelo Gomes.  I'm guessing there are no more words available to talk about his perfection - he had many solos in this piece, so pure and lovely.  And his chemistry with Diana was palpable; they seriously dance as one.  The reckless abandon with which they share their love pas de deux is amazingly gorgeous.  His partnering is again sublime - there are many odd and tricky lifts in this piece and they were all so secure and beautiful.  Their last pas de deux was truly heartbreaking.

And then the control Diana shows when she dances with her 'patron' - stunning.  The difference in her body carriage before and after she becomes a courtesan, and the way she executed the choreography was crystal clear.  There was such gorgeousness all around, all the shapes created by the choreography and all the passion and joy and regret in the characterizations - perfect.

Everyone who danced was spectacular - Herman Cornejo, who can also do no wrong in my book, was terrific as Manon's greedy brother; Victor Barbee was oily and arrogant and wonderful as Monsieur G.M., who wants to possess Manon; and Roman Zhurbin was off-the-charts fantastic as the Jailer - the rape scene was so ugly and yet beautifully executed at the same time.  His power and virility was glorious.  I'm really such a fan of his (and I got to see him again last night in a different role!  He's a gem!).

It was a wonderful night and I worried a bit that my Julie would suffer by comparison - I needn't have worried.  Although she and Roberto have different characterizations, their symbiosis as a couple is just as compelling, and I may have loved the piece even more last night.  Though that might be because since I had just seen it two days ago, I could watch the choreography in a different way - I could see more things because I knew where to focus my attention.  I could get even more enraptured by the shapes, the steps, the lifts.  I'm not sure why...

Julie Kent starts the ballet much more innocently - you can totally see how she was on her way to a convent.  She innocently flirts with the older man, she has a wonderful love for her brother and doesn't see what he's doing at first.  As it gradually becomes clear to her what her brother is looking for (money, basically), you can see the lightbulb over Julie's head.  She has something that men are willing to pay for, hmmmm.  But after she sees Des Grieux express his honest and pure love, she chooses love.  I mean, seriously, who wouldn't, when Roberto Bolle is dancing for you.  He is spectacular, all youth and innocence and boyish beauty.  His dancing has a lightness to it, which worked beautifully for the character.

photo credit: Andrea Mohin

In the second scene's bedroom pas de deux, the dancing was so rapturous, it made my breath catch.  There wasn't quite the reckless abandon of Diana and Marcelo, but more of a joyous freedom in love.  Both interpretations were wonderful and satisfying to me as a happy viewer.  And the pas de trois between Julie as Manon, Daniil Simkin as her brother, and Roman Zhurbin (our MVP) as Monsieur G.M. was so spectacular.  It was so specific and well-acted, plus it was stunningly danced.  I wish I were more knowledgeable about ballet itself to be able to describe it.  You could literally see the moment she chose the clothes, the jewelry, the riches that she would have as a courtesan, but you also already saw the regret of her choosing money over love.

Julie's Manon was more conflicted in the party scene, and her dance with all the other gentlemen was somehow sadder last night.  I can't put my finger on why.  And the third act was devastating, in the best way.  I didn't find Alexandre Hammoudi as the Jailer to be as powerful as Zhurbin on Tuesday, but he was still quite good and that scene still packed a wallop.  And the final scene, with Bolle trying to will his Manon back to life, and Julie just too beaten down by life and men and herself to even try to live - gorgeous.  The dancing was so amazing, I was holding my breath and my heart skipped a beat or two.  Just lovely lovely.  

I am now a huge HUGE fan of Manon and hope to see more wonderful dancers perform it in the future.  I'm glad my first two experiences with it, though, were with such beautiful and moving dancers as Vishneva, Gomes, Kent and Bolle.  Long may they reign.