Dancing Manon and Des Grieux: the dancers' story

OSLO: Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet was an immediate success when it premiered in 1965 but his next full evening ballet, Anastasia, was not well received. So in 1971, the public and critic waited anxiously for the premiere of Manon.

The story of Manon Lesaut, already celebrated in popular operas by Puccini and Massenet, appealed to MacMillan. With Antoinette Sibley and Antony Dowell heading the cast, the ballet got good reviews and has since become one of his most popular.

It has been staged by companies all over the world and this autumn the Norwegian National Ballet add it to their repertoire.

Manon and Des Grieux are coveted roles: technically demanding and complex characters.

I asked American, Melissa Hough who dances with Osiel Gouneo, and Dutch dancer, Douwe Dekkers, who partners Eugenie Skilnand, to give me their views on playing the characters.

‘Des Grieux is a complex character’, said Douwe, ‘and it depends very much how your Manon decides to play the character. Eugenie and I spent a lot of time, not only rehearsing, but talking about how she will play Manon and how I would react.’

Melissa took a different line. ‘The book is narrated by Des Grieux. It’s all about his feelings, what happens to him because of this woman. And in Manon’s story … well I don’t think he was ever meant to be in her story. He is sort of a glitch. Once he enters, her fate is sealed and it becomes the fatal love story.’

Pas de deux are at the heart of MacMillan’s ballets. Lady MacMillan said he called them the ‘jewels’ with the rest of the ballet as the filigree, the setting round the gem.

Melissa enthused, ‘The pas de deux are dynamic, expressive, they go through so many different levels and they have been fantastic to work on. It has brought something out of me that I haven’t felt in a long time: strong storytelling plus strong choreography. But they are demanding. I’ve been going through a pair of pointe shoes a day!’

The ballet has a very special place for Douwe. ‘I saw many performances as a student in London. I feel very excited and very humble to get a chance like this.’  

‘MacMillan’s choreography is not straightforward, it’s not partner work like you get in school. The pas de deux look so fluent but it really doesn’t feel the way it looks. I remember the moment I realised, okay, now this feels comfortable and I feel one with my partner. That was definitely an achievement.’

Melissa admitted she loved ‘meaty’ roles. ‘I definitely wanted to dance this role. I like the fact that it’s a story about a different type of female character and the whole ballet is much darker than a lot of the classical ballets.’

’I strive to approach things more like an actor. I try to look at the actual scene and what the goal of the character is in that scene or pas de deux. Then finally hearing the orchestra live – you start to feel different things.’

Douwe told me, ‘the way the ballet is built it comes quite natural to tell the story. Once I’m dancing it’s real easy. I relate to Manon and go through a whole rollercoaster of emotions.’

‘It’s like when you’re in love with someone who continually manages to hurt you. Because my love for her is so strong, I feel like I’m stabbed in my stomach especially in the second act when she refuses to take off the bracelet when I know what she has done to get it.’

‘Then the final duet is love at its purest. There is no one else around, everything is taken away and it’s just them at the end of the road. I ran the ballet for the first time yesterday and I was almost on my knees crying. It’s an amazing feeling.’

Read the review of the premiere on
http://www.criticaldance.org/2015/09/24/x-rated-drama-norwegian-national-ballet-in-manon/ Länk till annan webbplats.

Maggie Foyer
24 September, 2015