Social experiment. brb making it.

What better way to premiere this than with Manon?



Kenneth McMillan is complex and difficult to perform. He makes people uncomfortable. Because even the average ballet fan just about prefers to go see some harmless dancing candy, instead of people having dancing sex. The ooohs and aaahs on Center Stage are exaggerations, but yeah. Sex on stage makes people uncomfortable. It's also hard to perform. And I don't think a lot of people realize how much of sex on stage the pas de deux from Manon is. It's on virtually every Gala of every company, and this has resulted in many a video around showing off different performances. It has to be said though, that the complexity of Manon - and most McMillan pieces, thankfully -, however, has saved it from the Dolly Dinkle syndrome, and it has to be said that only rather accomplished dancers execute it.


That being said, though... Oh, this is gonna be good.

A few things, first:
I think it's unusual for a pas de deux to be so musically different. Part of the reason is obviously that Manon is a collage of music form Massenet as opposed to a specifically composed ballet. But that difference in the layers of the composition makes it quite remarkable. Some dancers do good on some sections but they struggle with others, so that makes it even harder.

Second,
I judge a Manon since the second she gets up from the bed and walks out. It's a series of little steps and they are ridiculously simple movement. If you can't put proper intention into that, the rest is sure to be doomed.


Habana Festival 2000 - Alessandra Ferri/Carlos Acosta


Alessandra is a goddess. Yes, that is not news. Her steps are firm and determined but she's still flirty. She plays Manon with sophistication and strength. That alone is more than a bunch of principals can say of their... well, can say period. That being said, her emotion is spot on and she doesn't miss a beat but she's not as musical however. A lot of her small details are more seductive than sexual and her approach to the character is very mature and defined. Manon is essentially a kid, and in a lot of ways, Alessandra, lady that she is, can only play Manon as a kid so far. I love Alessandra, and I think her emotion and execution is spot on, but it's just not perfect.


Australian Ballet - Justine Summers/Steven Heathcote


I love aussies but wtf is this orchestration? Seriously, like what happened? Let alone the orchestration, this one is a total snore fest. It is quite methodic and not very emotional. I mean, look at the way she walks! She's beautiful and has lovely feet, but idk, go perform Sleeping Beauty or Swan Lake with that. Manon demands so much more than this. Their chemistry leaves a lot to be desired because this pas de deux is very intimate and sexual and personal. Except not. It's boring and technical and anticlimatic. If it were live, I'd be taking a bathroom break. Bah.

Alina Cojocaru/Johan Kobborg


She's a popular kid. So imagine that Regina George does her Jinglebell rock thing, and it's not that good... But nobody says that, cause she's popular. Kinda like that.
I'll admit Alina is not one of my favorite ballet ladies around, but she is adorable and her technique is clean and her line is ridiculously good. But this isn't that good. She has like a nice musicality, she plays the music to its limits, efortlessly. But it looks choppy. Not precise enough, not clean enough. And that's not to mention that he's... kinda just not there. And let me bitch about chemistry again. Man, I'm pretty sure they like each other and stuff, but they are just not there! Her emotion is beautiful but half the time he looks way too focused on something that isn't her. And their lifts are not effortless, he looks either in some kind of pain or about to drop her. And that detracts so hard from her execution. Her musicality is remarkable, though. It's like she extends the music through her movement with beauty and smoothness. She does a playful, young Manon and it comes off quite good.
There is another video around where they do a lot better, and he's not as choppy but that one can't be embedded and that annoys me so w/e.

Diana Vishneva/Vladimir Malakhov


Angel Corella says in Born to be Wild that if he were a girl he'd be afraid to dance with Vladimir... lol no kidding. But if someone out there can tell Malakhov to stfu is Diana. I'm not gonna lie, in some ways, her Manon reminds me of Charlotte from Sex and the City. And Idk, that's not what you want to think of when she's kind of conning him. Their movement is beautiful and smooth. He has a musicality like few men have, and she pairs up with him beautifully. Like she's not afraid to take the stage with him.
But... they're kinda both just quite too fabulous for the other. lol there's this moment when after the kiss De Griex usually goes over to his desk a moment and like, drools... But Malakhov does a pirouette. Lol. That's all.

Polina Semionova/Igor Zelensky


Horrible audio warning.
Let it be said, I have a kind of infatuation with Polina. I think she's so fabulous she's almost hard to look at and her movement is so fluid that it makes me want to cry sometimes. True story. But aw man this is zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I think that in a lot of ways, she's kinda the star of the pas, he steps away a lot from the feeling of the piece and I'm not against Polina being awesome and shiny, but you know... it's a pas de deux and them not being in the same place just strips it from its intimacy. I want to make a sexual analogy about how it's fun but it's not as good as the real thing... But that wouldn't be very classy. It's sad, because like I said, I love her. But it's just not a favorite for me.

Tamara Rojo/Carlos Acosta


Yeah my steps theory? She defies it. Just look at this gqmf! Look at her playful, kinda flirty, kinda firm, kinda determined steps. It's ridiculous, I can't figure out how she puts so many things in something so small. It's impossible how its this fresh, young and flirty feeling. Tamara is in a lot of ways one of the best dancers of our times. She has this flawless technique in a body that is so full of passion she makes you weep with her emotion. You can't watch her strip herself of all she has on stage, and not feel like dying... or something equally life changing. Tamara says McMillan is like the Shakespeare of ballet, and I guess she makes a great effort to show that off.
On the other hand, chemistry is something these 2 eat for breakfast. He's so masculine and strong with her, but at the same time so into her, that you can almost see them responding to each other ahead of time. A lot of this piece has to feel like this is something you should *almost* not even be looking at because it's this real personal moment between these people, and they pull it off flawlessly. Their kiss is gasp worthy and even the harder steps of the piece they execute them in perfect sync with each other's emotion and with the music, and you know what? It's hot! It's really hot.
Notice how much they touch each other, how intimate every step is when they do it together. They hardly look away from each other, hardly do anything without the other's attention. But how musical it all is. Tamara extends every musical note with her body. That very final beat, where before they hug, he pulls her to him. That's the whole piece in one second, the intimacy, the passion, the hotness. And it's beautiful and stunning and weep inducing.

You know Zakharova or Herrera there are some dancers who prob look at this and feel their eyes burn.