Do great movies make great ballets? Tis the question when one watches Christopher Wheeldon’s Like Water for Chocolate. The origin was a novel by Laura Esquivel but most people are familiar with the story because of the famous 1992 movie. That movie is a masterclass of romantic fantasy. Wheeldon’s Like Water for Chocolate debuted at the Royal Ballet in 2022, and was acquired by American Ballet Theatre. The ballet made its New York debut this week. It was heavily promoted – subway ads, newspaper articles, social media. Could Wheeldon recreate the magic of the film within the classical ballet medium?
Having now seen the ballet, the answer is … sort of? Wheeldon is one of the finest craftsmen in the ballet world today. His ballets always come in a slick, polished package. He manages to tell the multi-generational story with a large cast and supernatural element well. He chooses good collaborators. The lovely score by Joby Talbot incorporates traditional Mexican instruments. The sets and costumes by Bob Crowley are striking to the eye.
And what a complex story! I read the synopsis several times before the show, reread it during intermissions, and still had a hard time keeping up. The long first act is especially expositional, as we are introduced to the star-crossed lovers Tita and Pedro (Cassandra Trenary and Herman Cornejo), Tita’s dictatorial mother Mama Elena (Christine Shevchenko), Tita’s sister Rosaura (Hee Seo), the other sister Gertrudis (Catherine Hurlin), the family cook Nacha (Luciana Paris) and the kindly Dr. John (Thomas Forster). The storyline includes Pedro and Rosaura’s baby that doesn’t respond to anyone nursing him than Tita, a meal that causes guests to orgasm uncontrollably, the cook’s flashbacks of a lost love, and … you really have to read and reread the synopsis.
Because there is a strong supernatural element in the film, the ballet has to recreate this. Wheeldon’s efforts on this front are mixed. For example, the dinner cooked by Tita which causes orgasms in the guests is conveyed by Gertrudis writing uncontrollably. Later on, the ghost of Mama Elena shows up in an enormous dress and a gust of wind. During the final pas de deux between Tita and Pedro, it’s so hot that the stage is engulfed by flames. Flame projections overwhelm the stage as the curtain falls.
The cast was very fine. Cassandra Trenary and Herman Cornejo were passionate and headstrong as the central romantic leads. Trenary in particular did a great job showing her character maturing over the years with body language. They are frequent partners and have good romantic chemistry. Christine Shevchenko was maybe the most memorable turn as the angry, tyrannical Mama Elena. She even made one of the ballet’s weakest sequences (a flashback of how Mama Elena once had a star-crossed love story of her own) work.
Cate Hurlin also does the best with a role where she either writhes uncontrollably (first scene) or stomps the fields as a happy Revolutionary (second scene). Luciana Paris was affecting and kind as Nacha. I also thought Thomas Forster was sweet and sympathetic as the kindly doctor. Hee Seo has always exuded a sort of prim and proper dullness and thus the role of Rosaura was perfect for her. This cast elevates the material and makes the evening worth it.
The corps de ballet as per usual with Wheeldon is given almost nothing to do. Maybe the visual sight of Day of the Dead maidens in white dresses turning around and their dresses being black on the other side was striking. But in terms of choreography? Nothing.
The ballet in the end simply doesn’t convince you that Tita and Pedro have this overwhelming, life-affirming love. The pitfall is the same as all Wheeldon ballets. His choreography is (as always) efficient, watchable, but frustratingly earth-bound. Athletic pas de deux. A few overly repeated motifs (in this ballet, flexed feet and fist pounding convey angst.) His choreography tells the story but it only tells the story, whereas truly great choreography takes us beyond the A to B to C of a story.
An example of how limited Wheeldon can be as a choreographer: in the final pas de deux (set to a beautiful Mexican love song), in one pose Tita is hanging upside down with her legs around Pedro’s neck. This is an extremely literal recreation of … well, a common sexual position. It does, in fact, look like it belongs in a sex manual. But choreography that truly conveys desire is never this literal.
Wheeldon lacks the imagination to take this story beyond that of a well-crafted adaptation of a beloved movie.
