'Manon' at the Royal Opera House

The Royal Ballet's 'Manon' is a staple in their repertoire and is a sad tale of love and loss. There are energetic ensemble dances and gentle, poignant duets between our lovers, pain and despair, rape and murder, poverty and riches, it's all in there. It's a grand tale spanning class and continents. We were there to see the return of Steven McRae in his first show since recovering from an injury that's kept him off the stage for most of the year.

We meet young Manon when she arrives at a coach station outside Paris, fresh from a  convent and naive. Her brother spots an opportunity to make some money since a rich gentleman is instantly taken with her and, while they discuss prices, Manon meets the student Des Grieux and they fall in love. They run off to Paris but are tracked down by Manon's brother and the rich man and she is seduced by the jewels and furs he offers and she goes off with him. They meet up again later at a party and Manon and Des Grieux agree to run off again together but they're caught again and her brother is shot by the rich man and she's arrested as a prostitute. She's deported to a penal colony in New Orleans with other women in the same position and there, yes, you guessed it, the commander takes a shine to her, arrests her and has her delivered to his office to rape her. Des Grieux has traveled with her, kills the commander and they escape into the everglades where Manon dies and leave his alone for the last time. The message here is not to get seduced by wealth because it'll end badly.

This is the Royal Ballet so it's expected that the dancing will be excellent and it was. I particularly liked the ensemble dances which were really quite exceptional with great synchronisation, such as the dance of the strumpets at the party where they show off their wares - themselves - to the guests and then later the women coming off the ship in New Orleans, distressed and ashamed, dressed in rags and with their hair cut off. That was a particularly moving dance with the women almost fainting, unsure and confused - a beautiful bit of choreography and performance.

Akane Takada was a good, waif-like  Manon and Steven McRae danced Des Grieux with all the skill and vigour we've come to expect from a  dancer at the top of his game. It was great to see him bring his skills in dance and in characterisation to the stage of the Royal opera House again.

All was going well until the start of the last scene in Act Two when Des Grieux comes on alone to dance and, after a couple of leaps, something obviously was wrong as Steven stood still on one leg and then hopped off the stage to protect his injured leg. The curtains closed and the show stopped as we were told there was a problem and then told that Steven was injured and the production would continue with Reece Clarke dancing his role. That must've been a terrible moment for Steven, back to dancing only to face another injury. It must've been difficult for Akane as well, used to dancing with Steven and now having someone much taller stepping in to finish the show. Well done to Reece for stepping in.

It turned out the Steven snapped an Achilles tendon, has had an operation and now faces a long recovery again. As is typical of him, he's already posted photos of himself exercising and determined to recover and get back on stage. When you're ready to get back on that grand stage we'll be there to see you again.

'Mayerling' at the Royal Opera House

I saw 'Mayerling' danced a couple of years ago by the Royal Ballet so I knew the broad outline of the ballet when I went to see the current production, but there are always sequences and details that you forget, and I'd forgotten a lot. I was there largely to see the return of Steven McRae to the stage with his Royal Ballet colleagues and a long time away with an injury. It was a delight to see him leap about, throw ballerinas around in exotic shapes and jump up to the rafters again. Especially so in this ballet which is really all about the leading man who is on stage for most of the ballet.

The ballet is based on the real tale of Crown Prince Rudolph of the House of Habsburg and his rather strange manias around death and guns. And sex, lots of sex. And getting his own way in everything. He's not a terribly attractive character but seemed to have been popular with the ladies at court and less popular with their husbands. He is forced into a loveless dynastic marriage and treats his wife appallingly, even taking her to his favourite bawdy house to meet his favourite strumpets. He's not a happy person and, despite treating everyone badly, still seems to be popular with some young women. one in particular who shares his morbid fascinations.

It all comes to a head when he shoots one of the courtiers on a family game shoot in the woods and his oddities can no longer be hidden. In the hunting lodge he's assigned to while the Emperor considers his fate he's visited my his latest young lover and they dance up a storm then he shoots up and grabs his pistol that's never far from his hand...

Phew. This an intense ballet, very dark and dangerous. It has a large cast, some exotic costumes and a lot going on around the stage, with sub-plots aplenty to build a rich and compelling tale of power and intrigue, psychological drama and uncontrolled lusts and passions. It's all in there.

Key to the whole thing, of course, is the choreography and dancing. This is one of Kenneth MacMillan's great ballets and deservedly gets revived regularly. It's a star vehicle for the lead male dancer and Steven McRae is certainly one of the Royal Ballet's finest. He's been a Principal since 2009 and knows his stuff, bringing characterisation to every role - it's about acting as well as dancing and there's some spectacular dancing in this ballet. Steven was accompanied by Akane Takada as his lover and together they pulled some amazingly athletic feats of dance, sometimes getting close to gymnastics. I had the pleasure of seeing Akane dance the Swan in 'Swan Lake' early in the summer and it was delightful to see her grace and athleticism again.

It's a very intense ballet and the long applause at the end as the dancers took their bows and the ballerinas received flowers helped to come down from the tense peak. It was a treat to see Steven on stage, alone, to take the first bow which he so richly deserved. Welcome back!

'Manon' at the Royal Opera House

'Manon' is one of the great romantic modern ballets by Kenneth MacMillan and has been in the Royal Ballet's repertoire for a long time (I saw the 274th performance according to the cast list). The tale is worthy and sad - there are no happy endings in this ballet. But there is some great dancing, particularly the group dances and the various pas de deux of the lovers.

'Manon' is a simple tale of greed, lust and power and, of course, love. Isn't every ballet? Our heroine is Manon, a young girl who travels to Paris with her guardian to meet her brother and change coaches to take her to a convent. By the time she appears we've already met her brother, Lescaut, who pimps his mistress and is friends with the Beggar Chief and other thieves. He welcomes the grand folks from Paris in the hopes of getting money out of them. When his sister arrives, beautiful and young, he realises he can get money for her virtue and he deals with both her guardian and the rich Monsieur G.M. While the deals are being made, Manon meets Des Grieux, a handsome young student and they fall in love and flee back to his apartment where they dance their love. Unfortunately, they're followed by Lescaut and Monsieur G.M. who then woos her with furs and a diamond necklace and she succumbs. Her lover is, of course, distraught.

Some time later the scene changes to a society party with courtesans and lusty old men, young energetic men showing off and all gentlemen handing in their swords to avoid any trouble. Lescaut and Des Grieux arrive in their finery and Lescaut is already drunk and gives the best drunk dancing I've ever seen as he and his mistress cavort across the stage. Then Monsieur and Manon arrive and she's bedecked in all her finery but, inside, she's still the little girl who fell in love and she and Des Grieux plan to run away together.  Monsieur returns and swords are drawn as the couple try to escape and Lescaut help them. They make it back to Des Grief's apartment, followed by Monsieur and the local police - he shoots and kills Lescaut and prosecutes Manon as a prostitute.

Manon is deported to a penal colony in the colonies in America and Des Grieux follows to protect her. She is still a beauty and the local Gaoler takes a fancy to his new charge and rapes her at which point Des Grieux finally grows a pair and stabs him to death. The lovers escape into the swamps around the colony where Manon finally dies and we leave Des Grieux to his mourning. Clap! Clap! Clap!

So there you have it kids, don't give up your virtue for worldly goods because you'll probably die in a swamp. And you don't want that.

It's a fab ballet and there's some astonishing dancing. The best solo dances all seem to go to that rascal Lescaut in the first act, leaping all over the place, and he gets the opportunity to do great dancing and falling over in the drunken party scene. Our lovers of Manon and Des Grieux dance some lovely and tender pas de deux, sharing moments of passion and love. One segment I really enjoyed was when the ladies arrived in the colony dressed in rags and hair cut scandalously short and their ensemble dance with their hands behind their backs one moment and covering their heads in shame the next before passing out with the heat and their weariness. I was most impressed with that simple and heart-felt story telling, the restrained movements and innate sadness. It was most fab indeed.

Our dancers were Akane Takada as Manon, Alexander Campbell as Des Grieux, James Hay as the very bouncy Lescaut, and Thomas Whitehead as the nasty Monsieur G.M. Thank you for the magic.