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The Royal Ballet's Don Quixote, 2013


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Yes, I just wanted to highlight late/lateish availability, in case anyone was interested. If one is a relative newcomer to ballet at the ROH one isn't necessarily aware that tickets to even a long sold out performance can suddenly become available online or by telephone at short notice. I wasn't suggesting that the production was a flop, commercially at least. I shall report back on the performances which I see, the first of which is tonight. I just hope that the corps is not worn out after three performances at the weekend. It's interesting to see such diverging views on this forum and among the critics although the latter have generally been fairly positive.

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Well I was at the performance on Saturday afternoon.  Although I am not a Royal Ballet regular I was excited when I saw Carlos Acosta was producing Don Quixote for the company.  He is, after all, Cuban and Don Q must be in his blood.  The BNC production is one of my favourites and a joy to watch.  What was finally the icing on the cake for me was the casting of Alexander Campbell as Basilio, which basically meant that wild horses could not keep me away!

 

So how did my Saturday go ..... let's just say that I floated home on Cloud 9!

 

I am not saying the production is perfect - I didn't like the moving houses and the orchestration sounded a bit strange to my untutored ears but I do think that Carlos Acosta has made a jolly good production of this riotous romp of a ballet and I would love to see it again.

 

I really liked the set (apart from the moving houses) and, for me, it evoked sun-drenched villages in the midday sun.  I liked the costumes and I thought the horse was a stroke of genius.  I loved the giant flowers in the Dryad scene too.

 

Looking around the stage all the dancers were engaged in the action and I thought that the production played to their strengths.  I particularly liked Ryoichi Hirano as Espada and Laura Morera as Mercedes.

 

In the gypsy encampment, I thought it was near genius to have the guitarists on stage - a real highlight for me.

 

Roberta Marquez was utterly sublime as Kitri - she was flirtatious and vivacious and I just adored her performance.  Alexander Campbell more than met my very high expectations - he danced wonderfully and seemed totally immersed in the character of Basilio.  They had a wonderful rapport on stage together.

 

All in all some minor quibbles but overall - FANTASTIC!  I hope it is soon back in the rep because I would love to see it again.

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Yes, thank you aileen.  It does sometimes happen that tickets get returned only a matter of days before a performance (as happened yesterday), so it's always worth checking, although obviously availability will be limited.

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Lauren Cuthberston and Ricardo Cervera were recently in Paris promoting the Royal Ballet Cinema Season. At the time, the French website, Dansomanie, reported that they had understood that Lauren would be dancing Kitri in the future and they seem to assume that this will probably be next season.

 

http://www.forum-dansomanie.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4792&start=915&sid=a5d7e6debb93bb858ec60074d884b5f6

 

Scroll down to the September 27 posting.

 

I suppose this could be speculation on their part.  It's hard to know.

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Initial thoughts on tonight's performance. Overall, I was rather disappointed, and actually a bit bored in the first Act. I've only seen DQ once and that was the Mikhailovsky's production with Vasiliev and Osipova in the leads and their scintilating performance is etched on my memory. I liked the sets; actually, I loved the sets for the gypsy encampment and the vision scene (although I wish that the backdrop had remained blue for the whole scene and not changed to red). I wasn't keen on the pastel coloured costumes in the first Act and felt that they contributed to the less than vibrant atmosphere of the town square scene. The tutus in the vision scene were exquisite, though. I felt that the ballet improved as it went on. What should have been showstoppers eg the toreadors with their capes, the pdd with the one handed lifts and Mercedes' dance round the lamps(?) felt rather flat. I felt that the toreador men were rather leaden. They just didn't have the style or attack necessary to carry off the dances convincingly. Surprisingly, I was even slightly disappointed with Steven. I thought that he would be more bravura than he was and I didn't think that he had enough swagger and insouciance for the role. Iana didn't generate a lot of excitement either although she was strong technically. However, a highlight for me was the pdd in the third Act which was lovely. I thought that some of the choreography was rather dull, too. I don't know how much of it was Carlos'. I'd be interested to know how other people found tonight's performance. Perhaps I'm just a curmugeon.

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Perhaps I'm just a curmugeon.

 

No, you're not, Aileen. Along with everyone who has posted here so far you are simply saying how  Don Q was for you - and that is resulting in a very interesting thread with more longer 'reviews' than is often the case.

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Reading my post last night again, what I should have added was that, with a few exceptions, the dancers did not look as if they were really having fun, which I feel is vital in this ballet. I can only contrast it with the Mikhailovsky's performance which absolutely crackled and generated the most incredible sense of excitement. In particular, the toreadors' (and Espada's) dancing was nowhere near as thrilling as the dancing in the Mikhailovsky version. (I do wonder whether the men from BRB or NB would have made a better job of it.) As someone said above, this production also seemed to lack the gasp out loud moments and the sense of danger which had the audience on the edge of its seats. I suppose that one shouldn't really compare the two productions but it's hard not to because the Mikhailovsky performance (which was certainly far from perfect) was probably the most exciting one which I have ever seen.

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It is interesting how different people see different things isn't it!  Unlike Aileen (I know we were at different performances but I would guess many of the dancers in the crowd scenes would have been the same) I thought everyone on stage was engaged in the action.

 

Actually Aileen, one of my friends said exactly the same thing about BRB and NB and I overheard a stranger on the way out mentioning BRB!

 

I haven't seen the Mikhailovsky or Bolshoi versions or their well known exponents but I have seen the Cuban version more recently than the Mariinsky - both in London and by the RDB.  I think we have to accept that the Royal Ballet has to put its own spin on it and it is never going to look like a Russian production.  I have great faith in Carlos Acosta's Cuban-ness to believe that by the end of the run the dancers will be always fully engaged and will have brought the production even more to life.

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Last night was my second viewing and the same cast as Saturday (more or less, Deidre Chapman was the Gypsy/Fandango dancer and Beatriz Stix-Brunell took over in the last act from an injured Elizabeth Harrod).

 

I felt pretty much the same about the production, although I now like the guitar scene around the camp fire, actually enjoyed the gypsy band atmosphere in the music. Don't like the dancer's shouting, sounds contrived and silly, don't mind their clapping though.  The first act still needs the most attention I thought, music needs to be faster , the toreadors need to be much more flamboyant, even the streetdancer solo doesn't make the usual impact. The second and third acts are much better though, love the vision scene (but then I always do) and the humour is very well played by everyone. Gorgeous soft white costumes for the Fandango girls.

 

I'm looking forward now to seeing all the different casts, Marquez and Campbell next, sounds great!

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Oops, I might be going to see Steven McRae for a 3rd time - thank you for the tip.  Still haven't got tickets for Thiago Soares ,which is occupying my mind . 

 

Having never seen this live before, but seen many videos of clips,  I went back to the full ABT Mikhail Baryshnikov DVD today, which is even more interesting now I have something to which to compare. He of course is amazing and it's possibly the only ballet DVD for me which brings goose bumps, as it's never possible to capture the immediacy of a live performance on film. This comes pretty close. How I wish I'd seen him live.

 

So, yes I can see the differences in the production, but am still slightly mystified at the criticisms.  Much is personal taste.  I loved the moving houses rather than a flat set,and I also liked the RB sets for Act 2, but also agree that Act 2  is probably the least interesting - why we might ask.  Quality of dancing or overall plot  / choreography.  I sometimes felt I was watching La Fille or La Bayadere and at one point Giselle, but I have no problem with this as that is RB heritage and I feel familiar with it.

 

The success of toreadors depend on the quality of the male dancing, rather than anything else. I've only seen one cast so far, so will be interested to see others. This is such a great opportunity for top RB male dancers to shine.

 

Overall, I still love it to bits, because it's joyous, happy and after a long, hard day at work, is just what I need.

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I saw this last night. I would be really interested to know what percentage of usable stage was taken up by the set in Act 1. It seemed to have a knock on effect of moving the dancers in corps more towards centre stage and then leaving little space for solos. The other thing I noticed was that I could see what it looked like on film as they were rehearsing the camera work for live stage. I thought it actually looked better on camera and wondered if this was because it cut out some of the surroundings.

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Very pleased to say that last night's performance seemed to have picked up a gear. Marianela was scintillating as Kitri, Ryoichi gave Espada real oomph, and Laura injected great vitality into Mercedes! Carlos displayed his usual panache in Acts 1 and 2 but seemed, perhaps understandably, to have tired by the time he reached the famous Act 3 pas de deux. In my view, Bennet Gartside had really got the measure of Gamache but, in common with Gary Avis, Christopher Saunders failed to capture the essence of Don Q himself. Importantly, however, the whole company seemed energised compared with earlier showings.

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I saw this last night (Acosta/Nunez) and I loved it! I haven't had time to read this thread in depth, though I read people's reactions to the first night - it seems like some people haven't been that impressed, which is fair enough, ballet is as subjective as any other art form, after all. I've never seen Don Q live before and I enjoyed it so much because it was all so much fun! It was just joy from start to end - Marianela Nunez was absolutely stunning as Kitri and while Acosta may be a bit past his peak, he made up for this in characterisation - they both looked like they were having a great time. It was witty and fun (I realise I'm using that word a lot, but it really was!) and, on top of that, beautifully precise (on the whole). I didn't mind the sets that much, though from what I've read it seems like they were more problematic (ie things not working quite right) in earlier performances. I came out of it wanting to dance all the way home and you can't really get much better than that on a miserable October evening :)

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I certainly thought last night's performance generally rather better than the one I saw on Tuesday, although how much of that may have been down to being higher up and not having to watch from the stygian gloom of the Stalls Circle, I don't know.

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I do like to be close enough to the stage to be able to identify all the dancers. I saw the General from the back of the Stalls Circle and was glad that I was just behind the cameraman as I could glance across at his monitor when he was in 'close up' but, apart from named dancers, I was not sure who I was seeing. Now that I have seen both the McRae cast and the Acosta cast, I feel that I am better able to manage some comments. The cast list that RB publishes is one of the briefest that I have seen. What about those  dancers who were occupying significant though not major roles, and 'dancing their socks off'? They were ignored. Two toreadors are listed but there are four others: Dawid, Valentino, Fernando and Eric. I think that most of them appear as gypsies as well, though it is hard to tell. Also, the 'urchins' dance really well. Some people have felt them inappropriate but they have been given a number of opportunities to shine and that is what they have done. Paul, Michael, Kenta and Luca - well done. Also it was really pleasing to see Ben Ella. His injury at the time of the Ballet School performance has meant that he has had to be absent from dancing roles for too long.

 

As to the two performances, overall the Carlos/ Marianela cast proved to be the stronger for me. Rio was excellent as Espada, not only dancing with panache and great vigour, but adopting the right somewhat arrogant pose of the great bullfighter. Bennet was really good as Gamache. His characterisation meant that it was easy to empathise with him, whilst Tom Whitehead seemed to be much more at home as the Gypsy Chief. As Gamache his wig seemed to be too much to see his face properly and much of his acting disappeared into his curls. Of course Marianela WAS Kitri. She really burst onto the scene and danced with great verve. Carlos has an easy manner on stage. His presence commands attention. However, the final pas de deux stretched him somewhat, and he does not look good in the cream costume. I can only assume that the choreography for the man here was left to the dancers to interpret as they wished, hence Steven was by far the superior dancer with spins, jumps and turns that left the audience breathless.

 

After seeing three performances I think I must be coming to terms with the moving sets, unnecessary and probably expensive, the somewhat washed out costumes for the corps in Act 1 and the music - more brillo please. Also, I have decided that the fandango is really rather boring. I am not sure why the Gypsy Chief and his girl have to scrub up and change costume to dance this. Perhaps an opportunity for others to shine here would be good. However, by 10.30pm I had to admit that I had enjoyed myself. I am not drawn to any of the other casts. Well done to Carlos for all his efforts. It is a welcome addition to the repertory and does not deserve to sink without trace like earlier RB efforts have done.

Edited by nevsky
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Nevsky, with regard to the "two toreadors", they are named because they partner Kitri's friends, I think.  (I too have been disappointed in recent years by some of the casting which hasn't been issued: I get the impression management like to get everything on one page, but it often leaves off what I think of as necessary detail.

 

And John, I agree with you.  I know it's 1 am, but I'm really scratching my head to put a surname to "Luca".

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I only remembered it because earlier today on another thread had confused Cesar Morales (BRB) with Cesar Corrales....one of recent Prix de Lausanne prize winners.

I was checking my Youtube favourites on the Prix and noticed Luca Acri there as well. I think he was one of the finalists but not a prize winner but must have been recruited by the Royal from there?

 

It's nice to have followed these very young dancers like Luca and then see they are suddenly dancing real roles as in Don Q and at Covent Garden to boot!!

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