Set in the underworld and salons of 18th-century Paris, Manon follows a young woman caught between her love for the devoted student Des Grieux and the wealth and status offered by powerful men. As Manon pursues a life of luxury while attempting to preserve her relationship with Des Grieux, the pair become entangled in a world of exploitation, moral compromise, and ultimately tragedy.

Created by Kenneth MacMillan for The Royal Ballet in 1974, Manon is regarded as one of the choreographer's defining narrative works. MacMillan (Romeo and Juliet, Mayerling) adapted Abbé Prévost's eighteenth-century novel into a three-act ballet set to an arrangement of music by Jules Massenet, orchestrated for this production by Martin Yates. The production features the original designs of Nicholas Georgiadis, whose detailed evocation of eighteenth-century Paris remains central to the work's visual identity.

Premiered at the Royal Opera House on 7 March 1974, Manon was created for dancers Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell and has remained a cornerstone of The Royal Ballet's repertory. Through its combination of psychological characterization, dramatic storytelling, and classical ballet vocabulary, the work explores themes of desire, social ambition, and survival.