Moved to cheers

Created by Kenneth MacMillan for the Royal Ballet in 1974, Manon has become one of the most performed ballets in the world. Audiences love its tragic love story, despite rather crude narrative devices and a meandering Massenet score. And with performers of the calibre of French guests Sylvie Guillem and Laurent Hilaire, the ballet truly comes alive.

Artists who think as well as dance, they establish a rapport of such intensity and realism that you are completely caught up in the experiences of Manon, a courtesan, and her lover Des Grieux, who stands by her through thick and thin only to watch her die as a convict in Louisiana.

As expected, Guillem moves with the most extraordinary ease and beauty; while Hilaire not only looks devastatingly handsome, but dances Des Grieux's demanding, slow solos with smooth power and amplitude.

Those solos were originally created for Anthony Dowell, who returns at some performances to make his debut as nasty Monsieur GM, responsible for Manon's arrest.

So which Manon casts should you see? Well, any including Guillem or Hilaire, of course, but Darcey Bussell partnered by the Italian star Roberto Bolle should also be a good bet.

The Royal Ballet: Manon