It's 40 years since Kenneth MacMillan's Manon made its debut at the Royal Ballet. Into the ballerina's stock roles of princesses and swans came a different type of heroine, a thoroughly unsympathetic one. A young woman pulled from the pages of Abbé Prévost's 1731 novel ditches the man she loves for material gain and soon regrets it.
Ballerinas love getting their teeth into this part, and for the opening of this anniversary season Marianela Nuñez throws herself into the role, just as she throws herself into the arms of Federico Bonelli, as young poet Des Grieux, and they make slick work of MacMillan’s tricky lifts and romantic, lilting phrases.
But Manon is a fickle woman, enchanted by male attention and soon tempted by a rich suitor. Sadly, as she hardens, so do we. It's hard to root for true love when all you see is opportunism.
One of the lessons on Manon is that an 18th-century woman’s lot was a pretty grim one when desirability is her only asset.
Even in 1974, this ballet was a period drama but it was gritty, with insalubrious goings-on, not least enforced blow jobs. But does it retain its power today as an essential story? I'm not so sure.
Until November 1 (020 7304 4000, roh.org.uk)
