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Royal Opera House
Creating a ballet out of a literary work can always be a challenge – how do you transform a complicated narrative where words take the reader on a journey, into choreography which must do the same job, but entertain the audience in an entirely different way? Christopher Wheeldon succeeded in his Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Winter’s Tale, and now he has turned to Laura Esquivel’s modern Mexican classic, Like Water for Chocolate.
Wheeldon worked closely with Esquivel to bring her magical story to the stage. He has also reunited with composer Joby Talbot and designer Bob Crowley who collaborated with him on the previous full-length ballets to create a ballet which is rich in drama but short on dance.
The story is complex – you must read the detailed programme notes to have an idea of what is going on – and concerns the forbidden love of Tita and Pedro. Instead of marrying, Tita is doomed to follow the family tradition and care for her mother until she dies. When Pedro is betrothed to another, Tita’s emotions spill over into her cooking, tainting anything she prepares.
