| Manon | Music: Massenet, Jules (1842-1912) Choreography: Sir Kenneth MacMillan |
| The Czech National Ballet | |
| Martin Yates | Conductor |
| Cinzia Lo Fazio | Set Designer |
| Natalia Stewart | Costume Designer |
| Jacopo Pantani | Lighting Designer |
| Prague State Opera Orchestra | |
| Romina Contreras | Dancer |
| Danilo Lo Monaco | Dancer |
| Paul Irmatov | Dancer |
| Aya Okumura | Dancer |
| Matěj Šust | Dancer |
| Francesco Scarpato | Dancer |
| Federico Ievoli | Dancer |
| Alina Nanu | Dancer |
| John Powers | Dancer |
| Tudor Moldoveanu | Dancer |
| Marek Svobodník | Dancer |
| Nina Fernandes | Dancer |
Torn between desire for a life of luxury and lustre, and her true love for Des Grieux – thus is the forlorn and fickle Manon.
The ballet adaptation of Abbé Prévost’s novel L’Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut shows Sir Kenneth MacMillan at his very finest, attesting as it does to his profound insight into human psychology, choreographic craft and narrative skill. The artist admirably expresses the power of fateful love in the central characters’ impassioned duets.
A highly dramatic and heart-wrenching ballet, Manon aptly depicts the heroine’s desperate endeavour to escape a life of poverty and degradation. Her one and only advantage is youth and mesmerising beauty. Manon Lescaut and Des Grieux, a frivolous student, fall in love with each other, which gives rise to an extremely emotional and destructive drama. The ill-fated couple’s love is subject to a variety of trials and failures, yet it grows ever stronger. Manon, as wonderfully retold by Sir Kenneth MacMillan, strikes our hearts and never ceases to move audiences.