A new season of performances by the Royal Ballet beamed live to cinemas started last night with Manon. We had seen this ballet once before when English National Ballet brought it to Milton Keynes in October 2018. Unfortunately, after many years of appearing here on their autumn tour, they no longer perform here. Although you miss the excitement of a live production, there are compensations. The close-ups of the lead dancers are extraordinary, although then you miss everything that is going on in the background. Many times we also see the orchestra, which is not possible live in the pit. Despite the obvious quality of the dancing, what I did miss was the ensemble pieces that are more important in other ballets.
Last night we had the British-born Yasmine Naghdi as Manon with William Bracewell as Des Grieux. They are top-drawer dancers. Yasmine has come through the ranks at the Royal Ballet to become a principal dancer. She only had her first child less than a year ago. One thing that's great about the live show is that there is plenty of time for excerpts of interviews with dancers and producers. It is all hosted by Petroc Trelawny (famous in our house for introducing concerts at the Wigmore Hall and on Radio 3) and Darcey Bussell, once a top ballerina at the Royal Ballet and now training the latest principals. (We remember Darcy from many, many years ago when we actually used to go to the Royal Opera House. The principal on that particular night, Lesley Collier, was indisposed, and we were told she would be replaced by one Darcy Bussell. Queu groans from the audience. What did they know?
It was good that the one-page programme we were given on the way in included on the back a long synopsis of the story with additional words from Petroc before each act started.
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