1. Introduction to Tragedy in Manon
“Why did he love her? Curious fool, be still! Is human love the fruit of human will?” Such a cry starts the novel Manon Lescaut. Kenneth Macmillan’s ballet Manon (1974) holds this same tragic element as its raison d’être (Haby); regardless of intention something always goes wrong. Set in the avaricious French Regency, the story of the eponymous courtesan and penniless Des Grieux details his faithful love despite her fascination with material riches. As opposed to fairy-tale Imperial ballets, Manon is both Macmillan’s vice-abundant inquiry into darker themes including manipulation, and his stretching of classical ballet to emotional extremes.
As a dance student interested in how choreographers revolutionize …show more content…
Lescaut broods in the dark amidst the street action beginning, and this same controlling complex surfaces when he, albeit her brother, interferes in her life for personal benefit. Lescaut orchestrates Manon’s introduction to GM, circling them like a vulture with a powerful manège sequence and guiding her legs over GM’s head to entice him. He triggers the slippery slope of events, and yanks and bribes Des Grieux away from Manon. GM instead intimidates Manon (Flanders); she courus backwards away from him. Yet he unleashes her sensuality; she learns to tease and lean into him. Once aware of her power and wealth, it is harder for Manon to abandon prostitution in favour of …show more content…
Firstly, Manon faces internal conflict and constrained choices that she is inherently and inevitably unable to deal with. Secondly, personal agency and external circumstances combine to doom her, leaving her neither entirely to blame nor blameless. Worse, the tragedy then spirals out beyond Manon herself; each character contributes to her demise yet all end up broken. Thirdly and unfortunately, anagnorisis comes too late to avoid Manon’s drastic fall, which is portrayed through visual, physical and psychological extremes. There is little left for audiences to cheer about; Macmillan and his production collaborators have created a ballet that conveys tragedy so effectively in the numerous ways
“Why did he love her? Curious fool, be still! Is human love the fruit of human will?” Such a cry starts the novel Manon Lescaut. Kenneth Macmillan’s ballet Manon (1974) holds this same tragic element as its raison d’être (Haby); regardless of intention something always goes wrong. Set in the avaricious French Regency, the story of the eponymous courtesan and penniless Des Grieux details his faithful love despite her fascination with material riches. As opposed to fairy-tale Imperial ballets, Manon is both Macmillan’s vice-abundant inquiry into darker themes including manipulation, and his stretching of classical ballet to emotional extremes.
As a dance student interested in how choreographers revolutionize …show more content…
Lescaut broods in the dark amidst the street action beginning, and this same controlling complex surfaces when he, albeit her brother, interferes in her life for personal benefit. Lescaut orchestrates Manon’s introduction to GM, circling them like a vulture with a powerful manège sequence and guiding her legs over GM’s head to entice him. He triggers the slippery slope of events, and yanks and bribes Des Grieux away from Manon. GM instead intimidates Manon (Flanders); she courus backwards away from him. Yet he unleashes her sensuality; she learns to tease and lean into him. Once aware of her power and wealth, it is harder for Manon to abandon prostitution in favour of …show more content…
Firstly, Manon faces internal conflict and constrained choices that she is inherently and inevitably unable to deal with. Secondly, personal agency and external circumstances combine to doom her, leaving her neither entirely to blame nor blameless. Worse, the tragedy then spirals out beyond Manon herself; each character contributes to her demise yet all end up broken. Thirdly and unfortunately, anagnorisis comes too late to avoid Manon’s drastic fall, which is portrayed through visual, physical and psychological extremes. There is little left for audiences to cheer about; Macmillan and his production collaborators have created a ballet that conveys tragedy so effectively in the numerous ways