One of the pillars of the classical ballet legacy is the ballet Don Quixote to music by Ludwig Minkus, inspired by Cervantes’ famous the ingenious novel Don Quixote de La Mancha. It describes the adventures of the hero, the knight Don Quixote, tormented by fantasies moving between illusion and reality.

But ballet productions use Cervantes’ story as inspiration and pretext in their libretto. All the action on stage centres around a young loving couple Basilio (Basil) and Quiteria (Kitri), who are thwarted by their wealthy suitor Comacha (Gamacho). Only thanks to Don Quixote will their love come to fruition.

The production we bring to the Brno audience premiered at the Compania Nacional de Danza in Madrid in 2015. For the local company this version was created by José Carlos Martínez, then artistic director director of the company and star emeritus of the Paris Opera, who is currently artistic director of this world-leading stage. The Spanish blood that runs through the veins of choreographer José Martínez may have spoken, but his production, based on an original concept by Mario Petipa and Alexandre Gorski, is full of Hispanic temperament, colours, atmosphere and typical gestures.

The ballet version of Don Quixote is often performed for its brilliant dance technique and the unique beauty of the story and music on the world’s most renowned stages, no doubt due to the attractive Spanish setting in which the story is set. The virtuoso parts of the main characters Basil and Kitri are also one of the technical and acting highlights of the ballet repertoire and a calling card of the interpretive mastery of the dancers.

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