Manon

I don’t go to the ballet very often,   I’ve  always prefered modern dance.   But this past spring my friends Toby and Hannah and I saw the ABT production of Manon at the Met and we were all enchanted!

I don’t remember being so taken with ballet before.  I think the last ballet I saw was Sleeping Beauty a few seasons ago and it left me cold.

But Manon has it all –  a love triangle,   an unusal Act III setting (French beauty dies in New Orleans swamp!),  great costumes,  a lovely Jules Massanet score,   glorious choreography by Kenneth McMillan with beautiful,  sexy pas de deux for Manon and her lover,  and fabulous dancers in every role.

I think Marvin Hamlisch had it right in A Chorus Line  —  everything is beautiful at the ballet!

Maybe I should give opera another chance too?

Dana Susan Lehrman