Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon Lescaut was mainly dancing her way out of poverty; beauty was her only currency. Interestingly enough, La Scala’s take on a subversive ballet translated into a brilliant blend of homemade commedia dell'arte and stylish splendor. That might be “the Milan signature”. A stellar cast with Svetlana Zakharova and Roberto Bolle – both alike in magnificence – made the ballet even more glamourous, exalting L'histoire de Manon to the Pantheon of star-crossed lovers.
Indeed La Scala’s Manon might lack the “kitchen sink realism” the choreographer intended for his creation in 1974. British culture was still obsessed with the struggle of the poor under the harsh 1970s and Kenneth MacMillan could barely make both ends meet as a child. Both factors are reflected in his interpretation of L’abbé Prévost's 1731 book, which condemned earthly pleasures in pre-revolutionary France. Manon seizes the day with a daily and growing appetite that is inappropriate for her time. Partly unsatisfied with her bohemian life with Des Grieux, she is hungry for the fancy life. Manon was meant to be a Milanese at some point and she adapted brightly according to La Scala traditions. Unfortunately, diamonds aren't a girl best friend, because you reap what you sow; Manon’s amoral-for-her-era yearnings wind her to a tragic end.
It takes many nuances to embody a gripping Manon, who’s an early feminist in some ways. An ethereal, long-limbed beauty, Svetlana Zakharova sounded exotic on paper as a loose woman offering herself out of greed in a corrupted demi-monde. Her perfectly shaped ballerina body proved a sensual asset. Her arched feet strikingly cut through the air in the voluptuous bedroom pas de deux. Her knee-to-ear extensions looked as naughty as her character should be and her long, snaking arms depicted lethal claws at Madame’s. Zakharova's alabaster complexion singled her out as a perfect 18th century model, although she is not the ideal Fragonard muse. Above all, she relied on the magnetic, even totalitarian, aura of a born queen. It's no wonder Manon was on her way to a convent: the girl is too beautiful and self-confident not to be thought of as a sinner. Her delicate rosebud face switched soon enough to the one of a thorny rose, enjoying her manipulative power over men.
Frivolous and unusually feline, Zakharova's Manon was in total control of her almighty self, grabbing one man and slipping from the other in a reversed Rose Adagio. Her flawless technique, along with her unrivalled and to-die-for lines perfectly suit MacMillan's aesthetics.