Ballet Manila’s 30th year—its Pearl year—will culminate in a “fiery, happy celebration” under the limelight: the scintillating Don Quixote promises to dazzle Filipino audiences this August.
Why should I watch it?
The lively ballet is a must-see performance, especially for audiences watching ballet for the first time, said “Ballerina ng Bayan” and Ballet Manila CEO Liza Macuja Elizalde.
“I can watch it over and over and over again,” she said. “It is one of the most performed ballets in the Ballet Manila repertoire, simply because it's such a happy ballet, and it's a great ballet to watch, especially if you are a first-timer in ballet.”
She added it could challenge a person’s perception of ballet as a sorrowful or dull show and “convert” them into a lover of the art form, whoever they are, and at whatever age.
Macuja Elizalde herself has performed Don Quixote and recalled the ballet to have been fun but also one of the most difficult performances.
“You have to be energetic and just full of energy, full of love of life for the whole three acts of the ballet,” she shared.
“And the role requires you to jump and turn like mad, and it also requires you to always be at the highest peak performance,” she added.
The role of Kitri has become not only a favorite, but a signature role of the ballet luminary.
What’s it about?
Don Quixote is based on episodes in Miguel de Cervantes’ novel of the same name. In the ballet, however, its titular character has a smaller role to play. Instead, it spotlights Kitri, an ambitious inn-keeper’s daughter, and Basilio, a barber.
Kitri’s father, Lorenzo, wants Kitri to marry Gamache, a rich nobleman. As though striking a deal, he offers Gamache his daughter’s hand in marriage. Compelled by her beauty and vivacity, Gamache agrees. To please her father, Kitri plays along, although she and Basilio are very much in love, Macuja Elizalde narrates.
Enter Don Quixote de la Mancha, a gentleman whose infatuation with books of romance and chivalry has driven him to seek out adventure. He reaches the town and, seeing Kitri, mistakes her for Dulcinea, the imaginary embodiment of his ideal woman. Now, not two, but three men are vying for Kitri’s hand.
Act I ends, and Kitri and Basilio run off, evading Gamache and Don Quixote, into a meadow by a windmill. A camp of gypsies there dances for them, until Don Quixote appears. He mistakes the windmill for a monster coming to kidnap Kitri and so charges at the structure, hurting himself in the process.
Knocked out, Don Quixote dreams he is surrounded by fairy-like dryads with Cupid and Dulcinea—played by the same dancer for Kitri—dancing in a classical divertissement, which are dances that showcase technique without advancing the plot, Macuja Elizalde explained.
In Act III, Don Quixote regains consciousness in a tavern, where a party is taking place. Kitri is forced to entertain Gamache, which provokes Basilio’s jealousy. Basilio pushes Gamache aside and passionately declares his love for Kitri. Abruptly, he takes his life—feigning the act.
“It is a comic ballet, it's a very romantic comic ballet,” Macuja Elizalde laughed.
Kitri, knowing Basilio is merely putting on an act, begs for permission to marry the love of her life before he dies. Lorenzo obliges, and Basilio miraculously awakens. However, having granted Kitri permission to marry Basilio, he is forced to allow their marriage. In a vision, Don Quixote sees Dulcinea departing the town, and follows her.
Don Quixote was first choreographed by the renowned Marius Petipa in 1869 to the music of Ludwig Minkus, for the Mariinsky Theater in Petersburg. However, Alexander Gorsky devised his own choreography for the Bolshoi Ballet and brought it to Mariinsky. It is the version Mariinsky now performs and nearly the same one Ballet Manila has also adopted.
What are the dancers like?
Kimin Kim, who will portray Basilio, is the first Asian male principal dancer with the Mariinsky Ballet. He was 17 years old when he danced his first Don Quixote ballet, in 2010 or 2011. It opened the door, he said, for him to join the ballet company of his dreams.
When asked what he felt the highlight of his career was thus far, Kim responded that he believed every day was a highlight.
“Even (when) I was in the Mariinsky Theater as a soloist, it was always a highlight for me, because every day, (holds) a new role, a new partner, a new repertoire, it’s amazing. Because the Mariinsky Theater was my dream since I was really young,” he said during a press conference.
Kim believes ballet must radiate positivity to its audience, no matter its genre.
“There are sad ballets, there are happy ballets, but I believe ballet as an art form needs to always give the audience positivity. And I think, especially the role of Basilio, will give the audience this positivity,” he said, as translated by Macuja Elizalde.
He admitted that taking on different roles onstage is a challenge, knowing his unique interpretation of the characters’ stories and emotions must come from within. This is why he believes it is better to dance and fall, than to follow each step and gesture by the letter.
“In our world now, in the ballet world, there are so many dancers that dance alike. There are dancers that are very precise, and they follow everything to the letter. And because of that, every performance looks the same. I think that this is very dangerous for the art form. It’s better to go on stage and dance, and then fall,” Kim said.
He promised that in each of the Don Quixote shows, he would deliver a different performance.
“I dance differently every time, because I want the audience to see a new me each time, and I also do this for the young people that are watching, so that they know that they can be individuals as well, and that they can soar and fly in their own style,” Kim explained.
Renata Shakirova, who will be dancing as Kitri, is the Prima Ballerina at Mariinsky Ballet. She shared that she first performed Don Quixote in 2015, that she “feels” Kitri, and is fond of the role.
Over the course of a decade dancing together, the two have built strong communication, allowing for more technically demanding performances. With less need for rehearsal, their performances take on a spontaneity and sincerity and feel natural rather than studied.
“I love dancing with Kimin in Don Quixote because it feels like being in a competition with each other, but a good and healthy kind of competition. Like we challenge each other to dance at our maximum effort!” Shakirova said.
The first time they danced together, Shakirova was a young student, whereas Kim was already a star at the ballet company. Although Shakirova did not say much in the beginning, she has learned to speak her mind, she shared.
“And because that first time was such a great influence on me and on our partnership … we continued to perform so well together, and now, we can really just be spontaneous on stage together,” she said.
To achieve chemistry onstage, Kim shares that eye contact is essential.
“I really try to read her eyes. Actually, I really love watching her eyes on the stage. I think you guys already watched (her) last year in Giselle. Her eyes are really powerful on the stage … For dancers, eyes are really important because sometimes, you know, you don't have to move. You just look to the audience, and the audience understands all,” he said.
Don Quixote is the Russians’ “koronny balet” or, in English, “King ballet,” the one they consider best represents them as artists and dancers, Macuja Elizalde said.
What sets this apart from other Don Quixote ballets?
Instead of having four acts, Ballet Manila’s Don Quixote will play out in three. Following the tavern scene, a musical interlude will serve as a transition to the wedding, while a scene change takes place behind the curtain.
Macuja Elizalde also choreographed the Fandango, a character dance (a dance based on folk or national dances) where performers don flamenco skirts, as a pas de quatre—this is a dance of four performers, two men and two women.
Moreover, in Act I, Don Quixote enters the stage and the dancing begins at once. Ballet Manila’s shorter running time makes for a tighter production that better suits the Filipino audience.
“It's one bravura number after another. We call Don Quixote a clap-trapper for ballet,” Macuja Elizalde said.
To make the concept of Dulcinea clearer to the audience, a ballerina in a veil has been included in the cast.
“It's not really clear how Don Quixote mistakes Kitri for Dulcinea, and so, that's what I try to make a little bit clearer to the audience. I’ll introduce the character of Dulcinea, who … flits and floats through the scenes and Don Quixote—it’s only Don Quixote that sees her, everybody else does not,” Macuja Elizalde explained.
The ballet will always feel fresh, with each performance offering new things to explore and new ways to grow, she said, whether it be something new about one’s partner, group dance, company, nuances in the music, and so on.
Why Ballet Manila?
Ballet Manila has mounted Don Quixote around 70 to 80 times already, with each staging contributing to the company's growth as well, Macuja Elizalde shared.
“When we first founded Ballet Manila in 1995, all the naysayers said, ‘Oh, that will last two years, tops. And they will disband, and it's not going to be a very big company. It's not going to be a very successful endeavor.’
“Here we are 30 years later. Ballet Manila is the largest classical ballet company in the Philippines,” she said proudly.
