Preview - American Ballet Theatre - Nov 12-15

Don't miss the critically-acclaimed production of Don Quixote

NCPA Thursday 12-Friday 13 (Contemporary Ballet Collection); Saturday 14-Sunday 15 (Don Quixote)

Like Cervantes’ famous protagonist of the same name, the ballet Don Quixote gets mixed reviews. Balletomanes love the technical challenges and the myriad of divertissements (solos by non-principals), but a bad production means hours of random dancers falling out of their turns.

Don is an undisputed classic; like Swan Lake, Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty, it was fathered by master choreographer Marius Pepita, however Minkus’ score doesn’t resonate the same way the Tchaikovsky trifecta does. Then there’s the story, only loosely based on the novel.

Reality-challenged nobleman Don Quixote and his squire Sancho are searching for his fantasy woman Dulcinea when they meet Kitri, her impoverished lover Basilio, her social-climbing father Lorenzo, and her dandified betrothed Gamanche. Forgetting that quests never resolve themselves in the first act, Quixote initially believes Kitri to be Dulcinea, but then realises she belongs to Basilio.

After escapes, chases and fan dancing at a gypsy camp, they all end up at a tavern where Lorenzo orders his daughter to marry Gamanche. Basilio fakes a suicide, and is ‘resurrected’ by Kitri’s love (she insists on marrying the corpse).

Before the predictable ending, however, there are plenty of twirling skirts and castanets, as well as some staggering balletic feats.

One character does quadruple-fouettes (turning by whipping the leg out) while fanning herself, a move the New York Times likens to ‘patting your head and rubbing your stomach while doing back flips’. Having produced two versions of Don Quixote (this is 1995), the American Ballet Theatre obviously feels they have a winning formula – and most critics agree. Nancy Pellegrini

American Ballet Theatre: Don Quixote NCPA, 7.30pm, Sat 14-Sun 15. 180-1,080RMB.

American Ballet Theatre: Contemporary Ballet Collection NCPA, 7.30pm, Thur 12 and Fri 13. 180-1,080RMB. Premier US company performs the Asia premier of work by Alexei Ratmansky (‘Seven Sonatas’), Benjamin Millepied (‘Everything Doesn’t Happen at Once’) and Aszure Barton (‘One of Three’).