Multifaceted Marie

Marie Antoinette is not an entirely sympathetic character. Her penchant for luxury and extravagance—and the degree to which she was out of touch with the lives of the majority— made her a symbol of the wealth disparity that prompted the French Revolution. At the same time, her desire to flaunt the trappings of wealth in pursuit of an idealized version of femininity is, to me, sympathetic in its frustrating similarities to the pressures still plaguing women today. And the clear incompatibility in her marriage, and the loneliness it must have created, is a human issue that feels timeless in the way it tugs at the heart.

Performance

Vienna State Ballet: Thierry Malandain’s “Marie Antoinette”

Place

Volksoper Wien, Vienna, Austria, December 22, 2025

Words

Sophie Bress

Elena Bottaro and Vienna State Ballet in Thierry Malandain’s “Marie Antoinette.” Photograph by Ashley Taylor

All these themes, it seems, were on Thierry Malandain’s mind when he choreographed his 2019 one-act ballet, “Marie Antoinette.” Malandain’s company, Malandain Ballet Biarritz, premiered the work in 2019 at the Opéra Royal de Versailles. “Marie Antoinette,” which follows the famed monarch’s life at Versailles, is new to Vienna State Ballet’s repertoire this season. In December, it had its company premiere at the Volksoper Wien.

The work opens with the wedding of Marie Antoinette (Elena Bottaro) and Ludwig XVI (Andrés Garcia Torres). The new couple take their vows, and both movement and clever set design are used to foreshadow the dynamics of their future marriage. As they flutter about, seemingly repelled by one another like the opposite sides of magnets, the newlyweds are literally boxed in by a wainscotting frame carried by their wedding procession and guests. They’re trapped together and driven apart.

Elena Bottaro and Andrés Garcia Torres in Thierry Malandain’s “Marie Antoinette.” Photograph by Ashley Taylor

Sex is at the core of “Marie Antoinette.” Malandain’s movement vocabulary, which blends the courtlier aspects of classical ballet with a more modern flavor, honed in on sex in its weird, wacky, and wonderful ways—largely through the interactions of King Ludwig XV (Lászlo Benedek) and his mistress, Madame du Barry (Mila Schmidt)—but also in its most repressed, unsure, and isolating.

It’s noted in the program that the title character and her husband did not consummate their marriage for seven years following the wedding—Malandain’s choreography explores the effects of this distance on both characters. When their first child is conceived, the pair’s physical meeting is painfully, almost comically, awkward. By portraying two bodies so close in physicality but far apart in spirit, Malandain cuts to the core. The dancers’ stilted movements and choreographed lack of chemistry emphasize the emotional disconnect.

Adrien Fougeres and Olivia Poropat in Thierry Malandain’s “Marie Antoinette.” Photograph by Ashley Taylor

As the ballet progresses, Marie Antoinette increasingly finds solace from her loveless marriage in her finery. Captured particularly well in a scene where large fans held by her friends and close companions become props that frame and flaunt the queen and double as her busseled skirt, we see Marie Antoinette retreat into the recesses of excess. This all comes to a head with the creation of her faux village hamlet in the gardens of Trianon at Versailles. Here, the queen flutters about, playing make believe until her downfall.

We all know how Marie Antoinette’s story ends, of course. As I left the venue after watching the ballet, though, I mostly reflected on the ill-fated queen’s life. Years after her death, we’re still trying to pin her down—Malandain’s ballet allows her to be the confusing, nuanced, contradictory human that she likely was.

Sophie Bress

Sophie Bress is an arts and culture journalist and dance critic. She regularly contributes to Dance Magazine and Fjord Review, and has also written for the New York Times, NPR, Observer, Pointe, and more.

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