Inside Ballet Season’s Delectable Opening Night at the Royal Opera House
Nothing tastes better than forbidden love, so reflects the potent new production of Like Water for Chocolate, which opened the ballet season yesterday evening at London’s Royal Opera House. It’s the first revival since its premiere back in 2022, initially created for the Royal Ballet by Christopher Wheeldon—artistic associate of the Royal Ballet and choreographer—and the original book’s author, Laura Esquivel.
Ascending the Royal Opera House’s neobaroque staircase to the Royal Retiring Room, I’m greeted by a tulip of Veuve Clicquot and cincchetti of deep fried mozzarella slick with marinara sauce and Florentine coccoli draped in prosciutto crudo. It’s a welcome first taste of Angela Hartnett’s restaurant concept, Cicoria, which opened last month within the Royal Opera House. At the second interval, there’s mirror-shiny domes of apple pie cheesecake and a sumptuous chocolate-and-Chambord preserved layer cake served. Delicious and not forbidden, but rather in abundance—served to special guests that included actor Fiona Shaw, model and podcast host Jean Campbell, designer Roksanda Illincic, novelist Yomi Adegoke, designer Charlie Casely-Hayford, and director Autumn de Wilde. Roksanda, dressed in an undulating deep purple dress of her own design, has previously collaborated with the Royal Ballet, to make fiery, modern, and feminine costumes for the 2022 production A Diamond Celebration. Having just shown at London Fashion Week, Roksanda tells me she will journey up to Manchester later this week to work with Marina Abramović, costuming her work the Balkan Erotic Epic. Ballet and fashion ebb and flow from each other, both forms that celebrate the body and artistry. Just last week, as part of LFW, Daniel Fletcher showed his spring 2026 collection for Mithridate in the sun-drenched top floor of the ROH.
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Onstage, the raw and intense magical realism of Esquivel’s original novel is articulated in Joby Talbot’s captivating score and Bob Crowley’s sweeping, transportive stage designs. It’s a story of forbidden love, defying tradition, and familial tension that centers around Tita, a young Mexican woman yearning for her beloved Pedro, whose passionate emotions are made fantastic through her cooking. Francesca Hayward and Marcelino Sambé, principal dancers with the Royal Ballet, act as our Tita and Pedro. They are propulsive, articulating Wheeldon’s energetic choreography with verve and ecstasy among a lithe cast. With them, we see love that endures, even in the most intense circumstances.
“Audiences are in for a real journey. I hope they feel the emotional pull of it all—the heartbreak, the passion, the magic,” says Wheeldon, who choreographed both the 2022 and 2025 productions. “I saw the film before reading the book, and I was instantly drawn into the beautiful world Laura Esquivel created. It’s tender, intense, and full of longing. What really stayed with me were the female characters. They’re strong and resilient, but also beautifully flawed—and that complexity makes the story feel so human. It’s exactly the kind of emotional depth that translates so powerfully into ballet.” Wheeldon’s fluid, precise, and narrative style of dance has won him a Tony Award and played out across the Royal Ballet and New York City Ballet, as well as a recent appearance on the ballet drama Étoile.
“It’s a feast for the senses, and I can’t wait for people to experience it,” he adds.
Hayward, our principal dancer (and previous British Vogue cover star) welcomed the challenge of returning to her role as Tita after her first performance in 2022. “I actually forgot what a lot of steps there are to remember, as Tita is on stage for most of the ballet, only ever coming off quickly to change into another costume or have a hair change on the side stage,” she shares. “I have tried to stay true to how Laura Esquivel wrote the character, which is as a sensitive but passionate woman who is bound down by tradition and duty, who eventually allows love and destiny to let her transcend it all. That’s what makes the final pas de deux so moving—Tita is finally free.”
Working with Wheeldon and taking in his emotive style again offered the opportunity to go even deeper with the storytelling. “I feel like I can relate to Tita—apart from her natural affinity for cooking and being in the kitchen, in those moments of the ballet I am heavily relying on my acting skills!” Hayward says. “I find the moments with Nacha—Tita’s mother and grandmother figure—particularly moving, as I am [just as] devoted to my grandmother. I always think of that as I’m dancing.”
Hayward didn’t watch 1992’s Like Water for Chocolate before her 2022 performance, and it was the same this time. “I wanted to make sure the Tita I created with Chris was authentic to the stage version, and not copy anyone subconsciously. Now I have a strong idea of who I want my Tita to be, I’ve watched it more for entertainment! It’s very rare to have an entire story [of a] ballet made on you, so I’ve been lucky to leave my mark on it.” Already, Hayward is training and learning her next two productions for the forthcoming season.
“Creating the role of Pedro was one of the defining moments of my career,” principal ballet dancer Marcelino Sambé shares before the performance. “To originate a character from its very roots, guided by a choreographer so renowned for his storytelling, was both an honor and a revelation.”
“Working alongside Francesca, one of the most compelling ballerinas of our generation, was another extraordinary gift,” he adds. Having the opportunity to revisit the production has been “transformative.” “With time and life experience, I’ve discovered new depth in Pedro’s journey, proof that a role, like a career, is never static, but always evolving. More than a role, this ballet is a legacy I feel profoundly fortunate to leave behind.”
After a captivating three acts, our group is ushered out to watch the ballet company take their bows from the side of the stage, colorful bouquets strewn at their feet with each deep bow. We’re taken into the bowels of the historic Royal Opera House to chat and mingle with the adrenaline-spiked cast, standing among giant sets, costume rails, and props for forthcoming performances. After a chat, photos, and hugs, we’re bundled into our cabs—buzzing for an ambitious ballet season ahead.
Photo: Shaun James Cox1/31
Photo: Shaun James Cox2/31
