The most striking performance in the repertoires of the world’s theaters, which has gained fame for centuries, is the ballet Don Quixote. Everyone loves him: not only the audience, but also the ballet dancers. The primaries of the theater in the leading parties show an irrepressible temperament, special energy, infecting the audience with colorful, sparkling dances. And the audience is literally turned on by amazing music, which is completely subordinate to the dance in this ballet.
Authors of choreographic and musical scores
Ballet owes its birth to two talents. One of them is the choreographer Matius Petipa, who created the choreographic score of the ballet, invested in it amazing qualities of Spanish dances, like temperament and incendiary. The second is Ludwig Minkus, a connoisseur of the specifics of ballet music, the creator of the musical score. The authors did not have a goal to create a scenic image of the hidalgo with its philosophical approach to life in the ballet Don Quixote, the duration of which is three hours. The play features the chapters of a Cervantes novel on the development of relations between Camacho and Cateri. In the ballet interpretation, the characters have the names Basil and Kitri.
Ballet - part of Cervantes' novel
In fact, the ballet Don Quixote is a summary of part of the novel. Thus, the viewer is invited to attend a festive performance included in the classics of the genre. To see "... how the Joy itself rushes, and the Fun itself jumps", as Cervantes described the Spanish dances.
But the main characters of the novel, a knight of a sad image and his good-natured squire, was given a secondary role in the ballet. It remains unclear why the ballet, created on the part of the material of the book, which does not have a coherent plot, is recognized and loved by the discerning audience. And maybe you should not think about it. After all, the curtain is raised, and the audience is already present in Barcelona Square, where life is in full swing, young people are having fun and the wayward Kitri flirts with the barber Basil. From this scene begins the action of the ballet Don Quixote.
Libretto (summary)
In front of the viewer on the stage is a dancing square. In a dance parade, one changes the other. Toreador swinging red cloaks, Espada dancing with a Spanish woman, legs beat the rhythm on stone slabs. Dancing is the birth of an emotional, temperamental crowd. And the main semantic content of the Don Quixote ballet is life in the dance, it is an expression of the thoughts and feelings of the heroes in the dance.
And among this noisy fun, a knight and his squire appear on the scene. Don Quixote's gaze is fixed on Kitri, whether he saw her in a dream in the image of Dulcinea. Meanwhile, Father Kitri has the obsession to marry off her daughter for Gamache, whom she does not love, and is trying in every possible way to convince her father to engage her with Basil. Father disagrees. Kitri and Basil run away from home.
In a gypsy camp
On their way is a gypsy camp, where they explain the reason for their escape. Gypsies welcome them warmly. And again, fiery gypsy dances, telling about the life of free, about gypsy love. Glimpses of gypsy melodies are heard in the music score. Suddenly, a knight on horseback appears in the camp, accompanied by a squire. This, of course, is an hidalgo and his squire. Gypsies also welcome them warmly and invite them to an impromptu performance in which Don Quixote sees people with swords and gets involved in a fight. A sick imagination draws a knight and a windmill in the form of an enemy, which he throws himself with a spear.
Leafing through a brochure with a summary of the ballet Don Quixote, the viewer moves into the dreams of hidalgo. He is haunted here by the image of Dulcinea. He sees her in the realm of dancing dryads, taking him to the dance, but he continues to sadly walk around among the dancing "background". But the dream ends, and Don Quixote in reality sees Lorenzo, Kitri's father and Gamache with him. They are looking for fugitives. Like a true hidalgo, he guides his pursuers on a false trail, but Santo Pancho decided that his master was mistaken and shows Father Kitri the right path. The search for fugitives continues.
Events in the square
And at this time in the square near the hotel fiesta is a time of fun, a time of splash of emotions. The performance continues to unfold further, and the dances naturally flow from stage events. Dodging the persecution of Lorenzo and Garmash, our heroes, in the circle of friends, take part in the fiesta with them. The bullfighter with Mercedes is incendiaryly dancing on the stage. Lorenzo returns to the city and sees his daughter in the square. The denouement is drawing to a close. Weddings with the unloved Gaiters cannot be avoided. Lorenzo is relentless.
But Basil decided to outwit Lorenzo and imitates his death, showing how he kills himself with a dagger. Kitri understood the trick of her beloved and asks Don Quixote, who appeared from under the ground, to entreat his father to fulfill Basil's last will - to bless them before his death. Who can refuse hidalgo. Father blesses the cunning. And Basil comes to life and embraces the future father-in-law. In the finale of the ballet “Don Quixote” with a brief summary of the novel by Cervantes, of course, the wedding of two loving hearts.
Don Quixote, as an honored guest, is seated at the table. Dance dance begins. Couples succeed groups, bullfighters dance with dancers, just like at the beginning of a performance, music starts a spectator. They clap to the beat of Spanish dancing, not only on stage, but also the audience applauds to the beat of the music.
Wishing young people happiness, the knight leaves to look for new adventures and perform feats in the name of Dulcinea of ​​Tobos.
Conclusion
The performance is over. The curtain is down. On the last bows, as always, the artists of leading parties come out. Slowly, spectators come out of the hall and share their impressions.
What can you expect feedback on the ballet "Don Quixote" if people from the moment of the first production constantly go to this performance. It's like a book that is dear to you, you re-read and you always find something new for yourself. So is the play. There are no weak performances in the ballet Don Quixote. And if the audience says something, it’s a comparison of how this or that prima played, how exactly this or that ballet solo danced in this performance. And only odes sound at the address of this beautiful ballet.
If we talk about music, classical music that creates a ballet dance, it’s like talking to God. And this organic combination of music and choreography on the stage of any world theater, the audience sees in the divine performances of the ballet soloists, luring the audience into a short tale - the ballet "Don Quixote".