“Manon is a beautiful sixteen-year-old girl who loves life and cannot resist fleeting pleasures. She is charming, but amoral.” This is how choreographer Kenneth MacMillan described the heroine of his ballet Manon, inspired by abbé Prévost’s famous novel.

Premiered in 1974 at the Royal Opera House, this sweeping tragic fresco, which entered the Paris Opera’s repertoire in 1990, showcases the British choreographer’s psychological acuity, his mastery of narrative ballet and his innate sense of theatre.

Nicholas Georgiadis’ sumptuous sets and costumes and the dancers’ purity of movement, highlight the contrast between Manon’s modest origins and the glittering world she longs for.

Set to selected passages from music by Jules Massenet, the passion between Manon and Des Grieux unfolds with overwhelming intensity, from the small inn near Paris to the swamps of Louisiana.