Once Upon a Ballet: Don Quixote
Next up in our classical ballet series is another favorite of mine: the light-hearted and comical Don Quixote. It’s also a perfect choice for February as one of the characters is Cupid/Amour … but more about that later.
You may know the story of Don Quixote from Miguel de Cervantes’ famous novel Don Quixote de La Mancha or from the musical Man of La Mancha.
The ballet Don Quixote is colorful and vibrant with energy, spirit, and romance, courtesy of Spanish bull-fighters, gypsies, and the love story of the main characters Kitri and Basilio. In addition, there’s the endearing but slightly delusional Don Quixote, the knight-errant who is searching for his ideal, the lady Dulcinea, and is accompanied by his hapless, hilarious sidekick Sancho Panza.
The ballet was first choreographed in 1869 by Marius Petipa to a score by Ludwig Minkus ( the music is fantastic, you should give it a listen!) and was premiered by the Ballet of the Imperial Bolshoi Theatre.
The tale begins with Don Quixote and Sancho Panza setting out to search for Dulcinea and stumbling into a plaza where Don Quixote spies Kitri and thinks that perhaps he has found his ideal. Kitri is betrothed to Gamache, her father Lorenzo’s choice for her husband, but she is in love with Basilio. The two lovers flee the scene, trailed by Don Quixote and Sancho, who trace them to a gypsy camp.
After their encounter with the gypsies, the two adventurers emerge into a field of windmills which Don Quixote mistake for giants threatening his love Dulcinea. Naturally, he rushes to her defense and “battles” the giants.
He then falls asleep and what follows is the well-known “dream scene” in the ballet. It is an ethereal, soft section in which Don Quixote dreams of gracefully dancing dryads, led by his Dulcinea (who looks like Kitri) as well as Cupid (some versions call her Amour), who performs a sprightly solo.
After he awakens, the ballet returns to the plaza where there is dancing and merrymaking. Lorenzo has given his blessing to the marriage of Gamache and Kitri, and in his outrage, Basilio feigns stabbing himself. Don Quixote challenges Gamache to a duel but is refused. However, he succeeds in persuading Lorenzo to allow his daughter Kitri to be with Basilio. When this occurs, Basilio “miraculously” recovers from his “suicide” and the ballet concludes with a grand wedding for the two young lovers. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza ride off for more adventures.
This truly is a delightful ballet full of Spanish flair and heart. I’ve been a dryad in the dream sequence twice during ballet summer intensive programs, learning two very distinct versions. But in both, the precision of the dryads as well as the dreamy, wispy quality of the dancing was emphasized. It was a fun challenge to try and embody these elegant tree spirits.
I’ve also been fortunate to learn as well as to teach the Cupid solo, which has a completely opposite dynamic to the dryads. Cupid is quick, sharp, and playful. The dancer not only has to be energetic and spot-on in the movements themselves but also display Cupid’s jaunty personality. Since it is a solo, the ballerina has some leeway to infuse the dance with her own interpretation of the character. This is an amazing rendition of the solo: https://youtu.be/-oN0A9RRmYo
If that whet your whistle, here is another clip of the ballet. This time it’s the finale of Act 1, filled with stunning dancing by the Royal Ballet. https://youtu.be/5fKxzQ8ARTQ
Just go searching on YouTube and you’ll find multiple excerpts of this wonderful classical ballet!
Enjoy!!