Inside American Ballet Theatre’s New Full-Length Work, “Like Water for Chocolate”
Since Mexican novelist Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate was first published in 1989, it has been translated into more than 30 languages and adapted into a cult-favorite film. Now, with Tony Award–winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon at the helm, the best-selling novel sees its most ambitious adaptation yet: a ballet. Part of a co-production with the U.K.’s Royal Ballet, which first premiered Like Water for Chocolate in London last summer, the commission opens American Ballet Theatre’s summer season this week, with performances taking place at New York City’s Metropolitan Opera House from June 22 to July 1.
“I saw the movie, actually, before I read the book,” Wheeldon recalls. He was first introduced to the story—a work of magical realism—while dancing with the New York City Ballet in the early ’90s. “I had just moved to New York, and in an attempt to quash my homesickness, I would go to the movies on Sundays,” the English choreographer says. “I instantly became a fan, and for about 30 years, I’ve thought about how I might bring it to the stage at some point.” Given the complexity of the story— it spans several decades and depicts the entire De la Garza family as it follows the forbidden love between Tita De la Garza and her neighbor Pedro—Wheeldon decided he would need plenty of choreographic experience first.
With an impressive resume of one-act ballets, full-length performances, and Broadway shows (including Tony Awards for choreography for An American in Paris and MJ The Musical, in 2015 and 2022, respectively), Wheeldon finally felt the timing was right. Both the Royal Ballet and ABT sought to take on the scale of the work, which, in addition to Wheeldon’s choreography, required commissioning a score, the designing and building of sets and costumes, and working with Esquivel to adapt the novel to the stage.
“The fruition of this ballet is between a two- and a three-year process from conception to putting it on stage,” says ABT’s artistic director, Susan Jaffe, herself a former principal dancer with the company for 22 years. New to the role in December 2022, Jaffe points out that Like Water for Chocolate was commissioned by her predecessor, Kevin McKenzie, but that it represents the direction in which she hopes to steer the company. “I’m thrilled that [Like Water for Chocolate] was written by a woman, and in the future, I’m looking to bring more choreographic voices to the stage from women and artists of color, so that we are the preservers of the classics and also moving forward into our current time,” she explains.
But before getting started on Like Water for Chocolate, Wheeldon set off to Mexico for Esquivel’s blessing. “It was very important to me going into this to know that I not only had Laura’s support, but also her input,” Wheeldon says, noting that his meeting with the author was arranged by longtime friend, Alondra de la Parra, a Mexican conductor who served as both musical and cultural consultant on the project (and who will conduct several of the Met performances). “Laura is exactly the kind of magical, love-filled being that you would imagine would have written this tale,” the choreographer says.
Next, Wheeldon made a second visit to Esquivel’s home, this time with composer Joby Talbot and set and costume designer Bob Crowley — both his frequent creative collaborators. “Laura made us a recipe from the book for lunch, and sort of talked us through her inspiration; her family, her story behind the writing of this book,” says Wheeldon. “And she very generously agreed to help with the building of the synopsis,” he adds. They worked together to make a few adjustments to the plot, including timing and added appearances from the cook (and Tita’s mentor), Nacha.
Honoring the Mexican culture so central to the novel was of equal importance to the team, and visiting Esquivel proved to be a crucial starting point for their creative research, particularly for Crowley. “Laura lives in this extraordinary house, which could be in one of her books,” recalls Crowley. “She has this beautiful courtyard with tiles and flowers and Bougainvillea everywhere."
While he studied Mexican architects like Luis Barragan and painters like Frida Kahlo, it was the Mexican landscape that he really honed in on recreating. For the scenery, that included working with Luke Halls on projections to illustrate different skies, such as the rolling clouds that often signal disaster ahead (as is the case when guests eat the cake that Tita is forced to prepare through tears for her sister’s wedding to Pedro).
And for the costumes, Crowley chose period designs with each character assigned various earthy colors. “For me, costume both expresses the character, and at the same time, because there are no words here, what they’re wearing becomes information for the audience,” he shares of wanting to give each character a distinct look. “There was a lot of painting and hand-dyeing, so things look like the ochre is seeping from their hems upward.”
And then, there’s the choreography, which sees Wheeldon adding his own cinematic touches to classical ballet steps. “It is a story that was choreographed in its own language,” describes Jaffe. “The more I watched it, the more I understood how unusual it was that Christopher created this entire world.”
Choosing to forgo the use of traditional ballet mime to further the story, Wheeldon instead built the emotion into dance. “Particularly, for Tita, there are many moments where I explored ways to sculpt the body to convey the broken emotion — the anguish, the pain, the disappointment,” he explains.“Like Water for Chocolate is almost like a play without words, more than just a ballet,” he adds. “And so finding, in some cases, the simplest way to convey the deepest emotion was what became the challenge of putting this piece together.”
For the dancers, it proved to be its own exciting challenge on both technical and dramatic levels. “There was so much material to learn, and on top of that, it requires a lot of really difficult partnering and lifting,” says principal dancer Devon Teuscher, who will portray Tita (she is one of several dancers cast in the role). “I dove into the story,” she says of her early process, which began before heading into the studio. “I read the book, then watched the movie, and just did all of the background work trying to wrap my head around who Tita was and the story itself before I went into the ballet.”
From there Teuscher and the company were given approximately one month to master the nearly three-hour ballet. “We were in the studio from about 12:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. almost every day, which is actually more time than we get for a lot of other ballets,” she says of the company’s typical fast pace. (During this summer season at the Met, ABT will also perform three classical full-lengths — Giselle, Swan Lake, and Romeo and Juliet — back-to-back.) After the initial rehearsal period, the ABT dancers went on tour, performing various works across the country before returning to Like Water for Chocolate.
“Chris has choreographed something where you can just live in the character,” Teuscher says. “For me, the biggest part of helping to tell the story is making sure that you and your characters are in it together; knowing when to take the backseat and knowing when it’s your turn to shine,” she says. “It’s not just the principals that are telling the story; all of the characters have such featured moments and such important roles.”
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