The first time Viviana Durante danced Manon she was drafted into the show at two weeks' notice, replacing Darcey Bussell. At the time this generated a mini news storm because Bussell had been due to partner Irek Mukhamedov, and the media were trying to set them up as the new Fonteyn and Nureyev. But for ballet fans the real news was that Durante turned out to be so gifted a dance actress.

Hitherto Durante had been known as an elegant technician. But when she danced Manon her steeliness suddenly turned molten. In MacMillan's bold, sensuous choreography her body threw off its habitual controls and her face became hungry with emotion.

Performing the role this week, Durante reveals she's got even deeper into it. When Manon first steps out of her carriage Durante barely has to make a move to register all the emotions that assail her. Intriguingly, Durante does not seem to care whether we like her Manon or not. When she falls in love with Des Grieux her heart may be giddily engaged, but when Monsieur GM tempts her with jewels she responds with a greed that shows exactly where her soul lies. We feel that it's on little more than a whim that Manon finally relinquishes her wealth and returns to her lover.

The self-centredness of Durante's Manon may also stem from the fact that Mukhamedov, her scheduled Des Grieux, was injured and replaced by Jonathan Cope. Cope gives an ardent reading of this role, but his regular Manon is Sylvie Guillem. Technically little was amiss, but the love duets lacked a sense of erotic delirium.

But overall it was a good show. David Drew made a queasily seedy GM while Ashley Page brought a calculating cruelty to the lecherous gaoler. Nigel Burley's agile laddishness injected a fine comic momentum into Lescaut but there was a brutishness in his gesture that also revealed depths of corruption.