“And it’s a very dynamic story,” he says. Heightened emotions and simmering passion are things ballet does very well, and Wheeldon foresaw great ballerina roles for Tita, her mother and sisters ( Francesca Hayward will be the first Tita). As Tita cooks for the family, her emotions are transferred to the food and those who eat it, causing outbreaks of lovesickness and intense desire. He also choreographed and directed a hugely successful stage version of the Gene Kelly film An American in Paris and recently opened the Michael Jackson musical MJ on Broadway.Įsquivel’s novel is unlike any of these shows, but Wheeldon spotted some rich ingredients for ballet in the story of heroine Tita, forbidden from marrying her beloved Pedro because family tradition dictates she must stay at home to care for her demanding mother. Having begun his choreographic career making abstract neoclassical ballets (including Polyphonia, Morphoses and Tryst) based on streamlined beauty, patterning and musicality, Wheeldon has since made his name as a large-scale storyteller, who has tackled everything from the visual spectacle of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to turning The Winter’s Tale, supposedly one of Shakespeare’s “problem plays”, into an emotive ballet.
