“Manon”
English National Ballet
London Coliseum
London, Great Britain
January 19, 2019
by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2019 by Ilona Landgraf
The English National Ballet (ENB) is a touring company—and that means that its productions have to be fit for traveling. In preparing for the tour, the décor of Kenneth MacMillan’s “Manon” had to be boiled down to basics—and either the company borrows an existing set or spends a large sum on commissioning a new one.
The ENB opted for borrowing Mia Stensgaard’s set and costumes from the Royal Danish Ballet—and this was ultimately a decision that harmed the piece. Manon and De Grieux’s apartment and the jail guard’s bureau in Act III are fine; it’s hard to go wrong with a four-poster bed and functional desks. Continue reading “Heritage-Trashing”