Ballets of Marius Petipa: Don Quixote
Natalia Osipova in Teatro Alla Scala’s production.
Don Quixote is very loosely based on Miguel de Cervantes’ novel, focused mainly on Don Quixote’s journey through Spain and the queen of his dreams, Dulcinea. His travels take him to a small town where he encounters a young woman named Kitri and her love Basilio. Lorenzo, Kitri’s father, refuses to allow the lovers to marry, instead promising her to a nobleman named Gamache. Don Quixote sees Kitri and believes she is the woman of his dreams, Dulcinea. During a rowdy party, Kitri and Basilio escape and run away to be married, with Lorenzo and Gamache following behind. Don Quixote finally sees Kitri is not Dulcinea and he feels a deep need to protect her and her lover which is why he mistakes a windmill as a giant kidnapping Kitri, attacks it, and falls into a deep sleep. He is taken to a dream land where he sees Kitri and Dulcinea merge into one, but is reminded once he wakes up he promised to ensure Kitri and Basilio’s happiness. At a tavern, Lorenzo and Gamache catch up to Kitri and Basilio. Basilio fakes a suicide because he cannot live without his beloved and Kitri convinces Don Quixote to “marry” her and Basilio after his death. However, since he was not dead, they were successful in marriage! Act 3 is a celebration of their wedding, with the famous pas de deux as the crowning glory.
Petipa was not the first, nor last, person to create a Don Quixote ballet. The first production we have record of is by Franz Hilverding in 1740. The first time Don Quixote was created in Russia was in 1808, choreographed by Charles Didelot and music by Frederick Venua at the Imperial Ballet (Mariinsky) Theatre. Petipa’s first version debuted at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1869 to music composed by Ludwig Minkus. Petipa then took his ballet to the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in Saint Petersburg in 1871, creating an almost entirely new ballet. He was first choreographer to turn Kitri/Dulcinea into a dual role and instead of Basilio faking his suicide, Kitri threatened to legitimately kill herself to make the ballet more dramatic. This version lasted until Alexander Gorsky created the version of the ballet we know and love today at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1900.
Currently Don Quixote is performed worldwide with each ballet company having their own production, however famous ones include Carlos Acosta’s for the Royal Ballet and Rudolf Nureyev’s whose choreography is used at multiple companies including Teatro Alla Scala and the Stanislavski Nemirovich-Danchenko Theatre in Moscow. Mikhail Baryshnikov staged his own production at the American Ballet Theatre which was recorded during a live performance with Cynthia Harvey. During this recording, the film crew messed up and did not capture the famous pas de deux and finale, so the entire company stayed and reperformed the piece. The audience stayed as well and gave a standing ovation. You can watch that recording here.
