The act two pas de deux between Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas (known familiarly as Boise) in Christopher Wheeldon’s new ballet Oscar deserves to take its place in the pantheon of great romantic balletic pairings.
Theirs was a tumultuous relationship. Not only because Wilde was married. Not only because, at the time of their tryst, sex between men was illegal in England. It was a relationship marked by big personalities and artistic dreams. It was an on-again, off-again relationship – even more so after Wilde spent two years in prison for “gross indecency”.
