For those who saw Pacific Northwest Ballet’s performances of Alexei Ratmansky’s Don Quixote three years ago, it is a welcome return. For those who missed it then it’s a chance now to see—and as of now the only place in the U.S. that you are able to see—this colorful, sparkling production.
Actually, Ratmansky is not the only choreographer and stager of this wonderful version of the old story. It was first produced for the Bolshoi by the great Marius Petipa 145 years ago, and later updated by Alexander Gorsky in 1900.
Actors Tom Skerritt as the Don and Allen Galli as his peasant sidekick, Sancho Panza, reprise their roles of three years ago. They’ve added to their interpretations: Skerritt’s confused old aristocrat is even more vulnerable and Galli’s Sancho has a noticeable bumbling tenderness in looking after him. Their travel adventures and the Don’s visions are the center of the story, tying together the disparate venues and giving the choreographers full rein to their imaginations.
Opening night saw the company’s finest ballerina, Carla Körbes, in the role of peasant girl Kitri, while Batkhurel Bold danced her lover (check the rest of the performance casting here). Retired character dancer Uko Gorter returned as Kitri’s dad, bent on forcing her to marry a fop, Gamache, full of airs and graces, performed by Jonathan Porretta. The vicissitudes of the couple are the other thread of the story.
Körbes, who retires at the end of the season, danced at a peak of artistry, as superbly as I’ve ever seen her. It’s a long, difficult, demanding role through which she sailed as fun-loving, feisty girl, defiant daughter and vision for the Don, achieving dazzling fouettés and holding herself, twice, in a long lift over Bold’s head. In the last act when she had been on for well over two and a half hours, she floated through a slow pas de deux with Bold, requiring extraordinary strength, balance and flow. There was yet more after, not as difficult but needing quick timing and spirit. She slipped in what might have been a large drop of sweat on the floor but recovered fast.
Bold danced at his best likewise. An excellent partner, he danced virtuosic solos, including splits in mid-air and multiple fast turns, always with solid balance.
Porretta reprised his role as Gamache, a non-dancing part in which he excelled as the comic element, never going out of character even in the bows. Karel Cruz made an imposing toreador with Lindsi Dec as his girlfriend, but most enchanting was the capework of the toreros, their huge deep pink, gold-lined capes flashing in great circles.
The cast is large, with villagers, toreros, wandering players, and in the Don’s dream, monsters and moving cacti and an expressive moon, then later dryads and Cupid in his vision where Kitri becomes his Dulcinea. There’s more: gypsies in the mountains who hide the lovers when her father and Gamache come in hot pursuit, followed by the Don and Sancho on their nag and donkey; the dryads’ bamboo bower where Cupid hangs out.
This is a show to delight all ages. Jerome Kaplan’s scenery and costumes and James F. Ingalls’ lighting conjuring sunny Spain enhance the dancing, while the PNB orchestra, playing its best under Emil de Cou, supported the dancers throughout. Conducting for ballet is an art in itself.
The production continues until February 8 at McCaw Hall.