World
‘Like Water for Chocolate’ brings food, magic, spice and lust to NY’s grandest ballet stage
NEW YORK (AP) — How do you choreograph a scene of mass food poisoning? A young woman in an erotic frenzy? Or a couple whose passion is so intense, they literally catch fire?
These were just a few of the storytelling challenges awaiting choreographer Christopher Wheeldon — for decades one of the most inventive minds in ballet and more recently on Broadway, too — as he adapted the hugely popular 1989 novel “Like Water for Chocolate.” It gets a splashy New York premiere this week at American Ballet Theatre.
Wheeldon is no stranger to storytelling challenges, either in ballet, where he adapted Shakespeare’s vexing “The Winter’s Tale,” or in theater, where he’s won two Tonys, the latest for choreographing the hit “MJ: The Musical,” about Michael Jackson.
But Laura Esquivel’s sweeping tale of food, magic, lust and forbidden passion set in early 20th-century Mexico, which also inspired a hit movie, posed a different issue: How do you convey such a layered, hefty, multi-character story, spanning two decades, without words?
Wheeldon laughingly rejects the word “hefty,” preferring “meaty” or better yet, “epic.”
“It’s both epic and intimate, you know?” he said in a recent interview. “It’s about a family, but the scale of the emotions within this family and then of course the time over which the story’s told — then you start adding the magical realism, and it’s an epic story.”
But, he adds, “My aim is always to try to find stories that are dynamic and exciting and theatrical and not get too worried about the practicalities … Can we manage it? Can we take the audience on a journey that they’re going to come out of feeling they’ve connected with these characters and been transported to a different world?”
The production arrives at the Metropolitan Opera House on Thursday to open ABT’s summer season, after earlier versions at London’s Royal Ballet, which co-produced, and in March during an ABT stint at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California. It’s safe to say ABT has a lot riding on the production, and we don’t just mean when one character gallops off on horseback in the above-mentioned erotic frenzy.
The company hopes to attract fans of the book or film who might not be regular balletgoers. It’s presenting two full weeks of the ballet — double what beloved hits “Swan Lake” and “Romeo and Juliet” are getting.
But while most everybody knows the story of Juliet and her Romeo – and the basics about those swans, too — audiences who haven’t read Esquivel’s novel, and perhaps even those who have, may need a primer. Hence the very detailed program notes. Wheeldon says he’s seen audience members “furiously reading their programs at intermission” — which he says is a good thing.
“It’s OK to need a synopsis,” he says. ”I know it’s widely said that if you’re making a narrative ballet, it should be clear and you shouldn’t need your notes. That’s true up to a point. There needs to be enough for the audience to hold onto and to be able to understand the relationships — but not necessarily catch every single nuance. This is a complex (story) and that’s what makes it dynamic and exciting.”
Esquivel’s novel, which has been translated into more than 30 languages, centers on Tita, daughter of the harsh Mama Elena and unfortunate victim of a family tradition that the youngest daughter may never marry, but rather must care for her mother until death. This dooms the great love of her life, with Pedro, who marries Tita’s sister just to be near her. Tita pours her grief into her cooking, which yields unexpected magical results.
The passion at points is steamy for a ballet, and ABT’s website includes the equivalent of a PG-13 movie advisory.
The opening night cast stars Cassandra Trenary and Herman Cornejo, who also opened in Costa Mesa. The pair have been continuing to rehearse and refine in New York, along with the rest of the ensemble.
A recent weekday rehearsal at ABT’s studios found the two going over some intricate pas de deux, or duets — navigating tricky lifts, smoothing over trouble spots, figuring out pacing. They launched into gravity-defying poses, then smiled and high-fived each other when a moment worked well. It was a striking example of how dancers continue to develop their roles even as they perform them.
“We’re just deepening it each time we come back to it,” said Trenary, a fast-rising ABT star who became a principal dancer in 2020. “The difference might be our moods that day, or our experiences, or just how life has shifted.”
Added Cornejo, the dashing Argentine who’s been a principal for 20 years: “We’re finding more layers. Each day it’s something different.” And both dancers noted that Wheeldon had given them an effective mental map to navigate the rich storyline.
Wheeldon is a busy man these days. Four days after he took the stage in Costa Mesa for a curtain call with his dancers, he was on the Broadway stage of “MJ,” congratulating departing star Myles Frost. That show begins a national tour in August and a London transfer next March.
The choreographer has just turned 50, but was barely out of his teens when, in the early ’90s, he began his love affair with “Like Water for Chocolate.” He had just moved to New York from his native Britain to dance with New York City Ballet. On what he calls “a homesick Sunday afternoon,” he caught the movie at a theater near Lincoln Center, and was enchanted.
Years later, he approached Esquivel when an opportunity came up at the Royal Ballet, where he serves as Artistic Associate, to make a new story ballet. The author said: “Let’s talk.” He traveled to Mexico to meet her, along with set designer Bob Crowley and composer Joby Talbot.
Wheeldon says his recent alternating work on Broadway and the dance stage has benefited him in both directions.
“As I’m learning how to dive deeper into character development, and emotional highs and lows of scenes, I take that to my work with dancers,” he said. “Certainly with ‘Like Water for Chocolate,’ we approached the rehearsals as much as actors as dancers, and I know the ABT dancers have really enjoyed that process.”
And Wheeldon hopes he can help broaden the audience for dance at a time when theaters are still struggling to catch up to pre-pandemic attendance.
“Maybe somebody may come and see ‘MJ: The Musical’ and love it and then see I’ve made a ballet and go, ‘OK, I’m not a balletgoer but perhaps I’ll go see it,’” he says.
“It’s harder to get people away from their computers and their phones and get bums in seats (these days),” he notes. “And so if I can be a part of encouraging people to come, that’s exciting and it makes me certainly feel like I have purpose.”
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Cherokee Nation Entertainment on Friday filed a lawsuit challenging a constitutional amendment Arkansas voters approved this week that revokes its license for a planned casino in the state.
The lawsuit filed in federal court claims the measure approved by voters on Tuesday violates its constitutional rights, and seeks to block its enforcement before it takes effect Nov. 13. The constitutional amendment blocks a casino that was planned in Pope County.
Pope County was one of four sites where casinos were allowed to be built under a constitutional amendment that voters approved in 2018. Casinos have already been set up in the other three locations.
“Cherokee Nation Entertainment is firmly committed to protecting its constitutional rights, defending its lawfully issued casino license, and safeguarding the substantial investments it made in good faith based on the establishment of the Pope County casino license under Amendment 100 in 2018,” Bart Calhoun, an attorney for Cherokee Nation Entertainment, said in a statement.
The lawsuit is the latest in a costly fight between the Cherokee Nation and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, which had spent at least $30 million combined on the campaign over the ballot measure. The state Supreme Court last month rejected a lawsuit by the Cherokee Nation that sought to disqualify the measure from the ballot. The Choctaw Nation operates a casino near the Arkansas border.
“This legal action to attempt to bypass the voice of Arkansas voters is not unexpected,” said Hans Stiritz, spokesman for Local Voters in Charge, the campaign backed by the Choctaw Nation in favor of the measure. “But we are fully confident in the process that brought Issue 2 to the ballot. Arkansas voters have spoken clearly on Issue 2 and we expect it to stand.”
Attorney General Tim Griffin called the lawsuit “baseless” and said he was prepared to vigorously defend the state.
The proposed amendment removes the Pope County casino’s authorization from the state constitution. It also requires future casino licenses to be approved by voters in the county where it would be located. The constitution currently requires casino license applicants to submit letters of support from local officials.
Cherokee Nation Entertainment has said it plans to build a 50,000-square-foot (4,600-square-meter) casino northeast of Russellville, 60 miles (97 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock. Plans also call for a 200-room hotel, a conference center and an outdoor music venue.
A senior Ukrainian official confirmed to Fox News that Elon Musk joined a Trump-Zelenskyy call on Wednesday in which President Zelenskyy congratulated the president-elect on his win.
“It was a very good call. Our work continues,” said the Ukrainian official to Fox News.
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Musk’s unexpected appearance during the first official conversation between President-elect Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy may point to his influence in the upcoming Trump administration.
“I had an excellent call with President Trump and congratulated him on his historic landslide victory — his tremendous campaign made this result possible,” Zelenskyy posted on X.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the Nordic Council In Iceland on October 29, 2024 in Reykjavik, Iceland. The main theme of this year’s Session of the Nordic Council is “Peace and Security in the Arctic.” (Micah Garen/Getty Images)
Details of Musk’s exact role were not disclosed according to reporting from Axios, though sources reported Musk expressed his intent to continue supporting Ukraine through his Starlink satellite network—a service critical to Ukraine’s wartime communications.
Throughout his campaign, Trump voiced skepticism about continued U.S. aid to Ukraine and emphasized a fast resolution to its conflict with Russia, which raised concerns across Europe.
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Trump assured Zelenskyy of support on the 25-minute call, but did not provide specifics on either policies or military aid. Axios first reported Musk’s presence on the call, and Musk has not yet given comment.
SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk speaks during an America PAC town hall on October 26, 2024, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Musk has donated more than $75 million to America PAC, which he co-founded with fellow Silicon Valley venture capitalists and tech businessmen to support Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
According to sources, Zelenskyy interpreted both the call’s timing and Trump’s reassurances as a good sign. Trump and his advisers have privately conveyed more supportive messages about Ukraine than the campaign suggested.
The phone call is expected to be the first of many between Trump’s team and Zelenskyy’s advisors as both sides navigate America’s involvement in the ongoing conflict.
Musk reportedly also joined a recent call between Trump and Turkish President Erdoğan, per reporting from Axios.
The wall, which separated East and West Germany, stood for 28 years before it was torn down in 1989.
35 years ago the Berlin wall fell, reuniting Germans who were divided between east and west for nearly three decades.
As Berliners poured through holes in the concrete to reach the other side, the iron curtain that separated the Soviet Union from the West was shattered.
For some, the event was a tragedy rather than a cause for celebration.
Institute for European Politics research fellow Laura Worsch says Russian President Vladimir Putin calls the breakup of the Soviet Union the “greatest trauma and tragedy in Russian history. So there you can already see that in his world and in his ideology, he would rather have this separation again.”
She says it is not just about separation, but also about having military and economic power over people.
Less than a thousand kilometres east of Berlin at the border with Europe, new walls are being built.
Poland is fortifying its border with Belarus to stop illegal migrants, who according to Warsaw are being used by Belarus and Moscow to destabilise the West.
Worsch says this wall is a “humanitarian catastrophe for the refugees, for the migrants that are stuck there in the forest with no infrastructure, no food and no humanitarian aid whatsoever.”
‘Uphold freedom’
This year, people in the German capital will celebrate the fall of the wall with the slogan “uphold freedom.”
Worsch draws a link between the Berlin Wall and countries in Europe fortifying their borders.
In September, Germany announced it would be imposing temporary checks on its land borders, citing concerns over immigration.
Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland have also imposed border checks, a move critics say undermines freedom of movement in the European Union.
Decisions made to impose border checks are mostly motivated by concerns around illegal immigration. In October, migration dominated a summit of European leaders with several calling for so-called “return hubs” — third country centres where migrants would be processed.
Worsch says that, in this case, there “are so many crises that I think it’s natural that people feel vulnerable and threatened and tend to kind of close themselves off from the world and concentrate on what they feel is theirs.”
Dividing east and west
The Berlin wall, which was in place in the city between 1961 and 1989, divided the city between the socialist German Democratic Republic (GDR) and capitalist West Germany.
ADVERTISEMENTIt was a physical reminder of the Iron Curtain, a metaphor used to describe the competing idealogies and politics between the Soviet Union and its satellite states and the West during the Cold War.
During the near three decades that the wall stood, at least 140 people died at the wall under circumstances connected to the GDR.
When the wall fell in 1989, it marked the first step towards German reunification and was one of a series of events which kickstarted the fall of communism in central and eastern Europe.
Fragments of the wall still stand today, and draw thousands of visitors from across the world to the German capital.
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