The Royal Ballet at MONACO DANCE FORUM

The great British choreographer Kenneth MacMillan’s three-act ballet l’Histoire de Manon is not just one of the great masterworks of The Royal Ballet, for whom it was created, but also now of the classical ballet repertory worldwide. It follows the all-consuming affair of a student, Des Grieux, for the beautiful Manon Lescaut - a story of passion, lechery, violence, devotion and tragedy. The dramatic choreography is virtuostic and transcendent, and not surprisingly the two central roles require exceptional dancers. MacMillan’s sense of detail and drama vividly evoke the atmosphere of 18th-century Paris and its underworld of poverty, dirt and degradation through a wealth of characters. With lavish sets and costumes, and a score – drawn from music by Massenet (though not from his opera on the same theme) – that is rich in melody and emotion, l’Histoire de Manon is a modern classic.