The American Ballet Theatre, performing at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York City, June 1983, led by Mikhail Baryshnikov, present Cervantes' story about the adventures of the Knight of Rueful Countenance.
Music by Ludwig Minkus
Conducted by Paul Connelly
Director: Brian Large
Stars: Mikhail Baryshnikov, Cynthia Harvey, Richard Schafer.
Mikhail Baryshnikov ... artistic director: American Ballet Theatre / choreographer (after Marius Petipa) / director: stage production
I actually sat and watched this full time. My mind wandered every so often, and my eyes closed for longer than a blink even more often.
This has very little to do with Don Quixote; he was the focus of attention for less time during the whole 1.5 hours than the bows after the production lasted, and they were not that long. He did attack a windmill with his lance, but that lasted less than a minute.
The story is more about the suitors of Kitri, and eventually her wedding to Basilio (guess who).
We did see MB dance a fair amount. Interesting: a lot of his moves were duplicates of his performance at the Moscow competition in '69. Not all, but a lot. I couldn't figure out whether MB was a barber, or wanted a shave. Eventually he takes out a giant fake straight razor to pretend death, finally overcoming Kitri's father's objections to the wedding, if only by trickery.
We get a bunch of toreros dancing with a matador, one of the suitors. An older wealthy man who liked to brandish his rapier was another. And Don Q even took a stab at it.
I was struck over and over by how dancers doing the exact same moves are not dancing in unison. They're also not dancing as echos or counterpoints. They're just not together when they should be. Especially sad when it's only 2 dancers who aren't on stage long. Do they not have enough people to oversee rehearsals?
The costumes and sets were pretty. The skirt in the poster was put to good use with Kitri kicking upward to make the flounces dance for her every so often.
So, don't expect much from Don Q, and this is a pretty good production.
NVC Arts, cond. Connelly; 7-
