Review: Cesar Corrales and Akane Takada find their own path in Manon
Corrales’s Des Grieux is a young student out of his depth, with a brow that radiates expression and shows beautiful physicality, while Akane Takada’s instinctive Manon makes a fine match.
| Title | Manon |
| Company | The Royal Ballet |
| Venue | Royal Ballet and Opera |
| Date | 23 October 2026 |
| Reviewer | Matthew Paluch |
A dancer’s career is largely twofold: the daily grind and desire. The grind is obvious; the desire refers to wanting to dance. Artists wait for that sentence to be said: “You’re going to dance X next season” – but then all the issues turn up!
By issues I mean legacy. If you’re a dancer with a company such as The Royal Ballet and you’ve been given the opportunity to dance Des Grieux in MacMillan’s Manon, many have come before you, and hopefully many will follow.
Where to start? Read the book, watch footage of former interpretations, speak to current interpreters, discuss with your coach, analyse with your partner… it feels overwhelming just writing about it!
Then you have the issue of the audience. Many people will know the ballet, some intimately, and will have a (subconscious) fixed idea of how a role should look and communicate.
All this is to say that dancers are artists, and they must be brave. It’s far easier for a role to take control of you than for you to take the steering wheel – especially in something as legendary as Manon.
Last night saw the debut of Cesar Corrales as Des Grieux and it feels like the right time. Corrales is 30, has been with the company for eight years, and is of course more than capable technically.
The role was created on Anthony Dowell and is renowned for its adagio style and dynamic flurries. Corrales absolutely nailed it, showing a range of emotion throughout. Act 1 was quiet and focused, building to unbridled passion. Act 2 showed desperation. Act 3, unquestionable love.
His face works well on stage. A strong brow radiates expression, and his Des Grieux felt more like a young student than many others. Here was a young man in over his head, not understanding all the politics at play, questioning why he was being treated so badly for wanting to do the right thing.
Corrales also brought beautiful physicality to the role. Long limbs fill MacMillan’s poetry; he uses his head dynamically in the emotional bursts, and when he jumps – either through passion or exasperation – it’s immediate and with clear lift.
I saw the ballet last week when the run opened, so I’m unsure whether it was due to the proximity of the performances or to this specific cast, but I felt I saw a lot of storytelling last night. And not just in the obvious way – more stolen glances and individual contemplation as the story unfolded. It was a very good watch.
Elsewhere the stage and story were very much alive. James Hay as Lescaut brought articulation and menace; Sae Maeda showed attack you don’t often see at the Royal Ballet as Lescaut’s Mistress, and it worked. She really went for things – a turn or a jump – with risk, and it paid off. Tom Whitehead played the Gaoler with an understated approach, and he still managed to be revolting. So the larger cast was strong and individual.
Akane Takada‘s Manon is a good match for Corrales’s Des Grieux. They work well together. I’ve seen the various pas de deux executed more slickly, but theirs felt instinctive, which really suits a story about young love and life-altering decisions. They’ve clearly done their homework but are determined to find their own path through the starry legacy that came before them.
As Manon, Takada shows both fragility and knowingness, but is fundamentally controlled by the wider situation. She’s only danced the role twice in 2018, so it’s still early days, but a suggestion would be that, in the group partnering during Act 2’s party scene, she should be a bit braver about diving headfirst from on high. I’m sure it’s daunting, but MacMillan’s genius shows her as a serpent or heady perfume, and it needs that level of undulation in action.
A well-deserved bravo to Corrales for his consummate debut. This didn’t look anything like a first performance, and it will be a privilege to watch him develop in the role. How lucky we all are – them and us!
