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Diana Vishneva, Mariinsky Ballet (not in Don Quixote)
Petipa's libretto is centered on Kitri, the daughter of a Barcelona innkeeper, a transmutation of Aldonza Lorenzo, the farm girl whom Don Quixote exalts as the legendary love of his life, Dulcinea, in the 1606 novel by Cervantes. The character of el ingenioso hidalgo is relegated mostly to the sidelines, a wistful observer of the love triangle (Kitri, her lover Basil, and Gamache, the man her father wants her to marry) that is the motivating crisis of the plot. It would be difficult to choreograph the character of Don Quixote in any other way, and Petipa does incorporate a couple of the novel's classic scenarios, including Sancho Panza being bounced on a blanket by ruffians, Quixote attacking the windmill, and his mistaking the puppet show for reality.
What filled the Kennedy Center Opera House last night was the chance to see prima ballerina Diana Vishneva (pictured), who was extraordinary as Kitri. In a bright red costume in Act I, she showed a dramatic, long line en pointe. Her leaps and extensions were smooth and rounded with athletic grace, and her pirouettes aligned on a nearly perfect vertical axis. She was not quite matched by her Basil, Evgeny Ivanchenko, whose lifts began to look a bit shaky by the end of the first act, but his fake suicide in the third act was appropriately way over the top.
Beyond Vishneva, the rest of the evening was pleasant enough, but fairly plain: lots of colorful Spanish costumes, not too moldy but old-fashioned; pastel-tinted, fairy tale sets (designed by Alexander Golovin and Konstantin Korovin and restored by Mikhail Shishliannikov), with one embarrassing snag during the change to the Kingdom of the Dryads. The scuttlebutt is that the company does not bring its best dancers for its American appearances, and that was borne out by the occasionally ragged performance of the corps, at its best in the Dryad scene but in other places quite up and down. The other soloists, while not quite at Vishneva's level, had some beautiful moments, especially the Street Dancer of Alexandra Iosifidi, weaving her way elegantly through an obstacle course of cups placed on the floor, and the the Espada of Konstantin Zverev. The score by Ludwig Minkus is pretty but mostly undistinguished and forgettable, played competently by the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra under conductor Pavel Bubelnikov. As a reiteration of past triumphs, it is worth seeing for the first time, especially if Vishneva is on the stage.
The Mariinsky Ballet's production of Don Quixote continues at the Kennedy Center Opera House through January 18. According to the latest information, Diana Vishneva will appear as Kitri only one more time, on Friday night (January 16, 7:30 p.m.), which would be the performance to attend. Last-minute casting changes are always possible.
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Did anyone else read the headline as "Mariinsky Ballet Tits at Windmills?" No? Alright then.
maybe!
The picture of the dancer makes me think it should be "Marinsky Ballet IBTC at Windmills".
I just got home from the Kennedy Center. Alina Somova danced Kitri tonight and was exquisite, but I agree that the rest of the performance was kinda meh. I think the problem is more inherent in Don Quixote as a ballet... there are too many male characters.