Like Water For Chocolate - The Royal Ballet

The Royal Opera House at Covent Garden has just released Like Water for Chocolate,  Christopher Wheeldon’s latest full-length ballet for The Royal Ballet on the Royal Opera House Stream.

Like Water for Chocolate is inspired by Laura Esquivel’s novel and follows the story of Tita, whose emotions spill out through her cooking and influence those around her in startling and dramatic ways. The production reunited Wheeldon with the creative team who transformed Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (2011) and The Winter’s Tale (2014) into dance – composer Joby Talbot, designer Bob Crowley and lighting designer Natasha Katz. Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra was musical consultant, and Laura Esquivel worked closely with the team to reshape her richly layered story into an entertaining and engrossing new ballet.

This performance was filmed during the first run of the production at Covent Garden in summer 2022, and features Principal dancers Francesca Hayward as Tita and Marcelino Sambé as Pedro, alongside Mexican musician Tomás Barreiro on guitar. 

Marcelino Sambé and Francesca Hayward in Like Water for Chocolate at the
Royal Opera House, London. Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian

This video of Like Water for Chocolate is complimented by exclusive additional content, providing insights into the creative process behind staging this new work on the Royal Opera House stage for the first time. 

You can subscribe to the Royal Opera House Stream for £9.99 a month or £99 annually. If you only want to watch this programme, join on the monthly subscription and be sure to cancel before 30 days is up. They are currently offering a Free Trial too.

First published at The Arts Online, May 28, 2023

Watch on YouTube: Insights: Like Water on Chocolate - Towards Opening Night - Royal Opera House (57 minutes).