It’s a rousing, athletic paean to dreamers, romantic or political. Building on the original egalitarian twist by Vainonen to make ensemble sequences the star of the staging, Miyao wields bravura technique like a weapon with the impressive depth of the company. Regardless of their roles, the dancers imbue the fundamental spirit of the corps with explosive pleasure, a contagion of energy with their spins and leaps and synchronous coordination. The rousing music, composed by Boris Asafyev, threads in songs from the French Revolution, including “La Marseillaise.” 

When the riotous dance is interrupted by Adeline’s father, Marquis de Beauregard who strongarms her back to the aristocratic fold, it adds a personal parallel to the historical unfolding. In Miyao’s imaginative spin, the young Napoleon/Yamada joins the indignant crowd to reclaim her by marching on Paris. By thus framing the narrative through Napoleon’s eyes, Miyao effectively presents a multifaceted study of humanity. There are no heroes or villains, only victims, overwhelmed by the burning tides. In the righteous pursuit of political change or in the throes of forbidden love, Miyao shows how violent passion ignites both terror and beauty. 

The scene switch to the luxurious Tuileries Palace bolsters this view. Again, Perdziola’s designs set the tone, abstract gold and grey glamor. Yet columns sag in metaphorical decay. Our first look at Marie Antoinette (a dazzling Noi Kinoshita) in an overlaid gown of colorful, confectionery delight, brands her as a childlike symbol of cloistered royalty, an ingenious image. Yet, in Miyao’s hands, any ridicule of the court is balanced by a tongue-in-cheek flippery at their own excess, with foppish, swan-like choreography that lands with more self-aware humor than spite. 

The court pageantry that follows is breathtaking, also bringing impressive new dance sequences. The slow-motion pas de deux between Kinoshita as the doomed queen (now in splendorous tutu)  and Louis XVI (Ren Kuriyama) personifies elegance, and their respective solos add important zest and humanity—Kuriyama with dignified turns and controlled leaps, Kinoshita with a coy fan and unwavering balances. Following the Marquis’s dismissed warnings, the inevitable clash comes as the mob encroaches; Adeline is spirited out by Napoleon, and a bewildered aristocracy scatter.