The Royal Ballet: Like Water for Chocolate
As entertainment, Like Water for Chocolate succeeds. It is a rich, magical, exotic tragedy. But in terms of substance, it remains at the surface.
As entertainment, Like Water for Chocolate succeeds. It is a rich, magical, exotic tragedy. But in terms of substance, it remains at the surface.
Picasso bent women with a brush. Holbein crushed ambassadors with a skull. Cherkaoui piles his house with dancers, books, frames, bones.
From the outset the piece establishes a dissonant texture, as if pulling the audience into the fissure of a dream
Swedish minimalism brushed against Colombian carnival, French surrealism met British street energy, children’s laughter cut through adult abstraction.
A collaborative exploration of fragmented narratives and contemporary desires, it unfolded as a deliberately fractured whole across multiple spaces
McOnie’s dance drives the production, with sweeping ensemble sections, duets, and shifting formations that dazzle the eye.
Even during the most intense emotional sequences, Peck danced with control, intention, and above all, presence.