DON QUIXOTE

Based on the classic novel by Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote (pronounced don key-ho-tay) follows the adventures of Don Quixote, an avid reader who confuses reality with fiction and believes he’s a gallant knight on a quest for love.

It was first performed as a ballet in 1869 at the famed Bolshoi Theatre. This spectacle was the result of the collaboration of two of the greatest exponents of the art of the day: choreographer Marius Petipa and composer Ludwig Minkus.

Don Quixote was truly a grand ballet in every sense of the term, and Pepita and Mikus restaged a new version of the ballet in 1871, which earned Minkus the title Ballet Composer of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres. Petipa went on to create The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, the most famous classical ballets.

Ballet companies all over the world have staged Don Quixote including for Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev’s staging of the ballet for the Vienna State Opera Ballet in 1966.

Nureyev revised this version for the Australian Ballet Company in 1970, to much international acclaim, which starred Nureyev as Basilio, Lucette Aldous as Kitri and Robert Helpmann as the title role.

In 2010, West Australian Ballet commissioned Australia’s Grande Dame of ballet, Lucette Aldous, to create a new version of Don Quixote.

Set in a seaside Spanish town, the story follows the encounters of Don Quixote and his loyal squire Sancho, as they embark on the Don’s gallant quest for love.

This ballet celebrates the best that classical ballet has to offer. From fiery romance to laugh-out-loud humour, West Australian Ballet’s production pushes the dancers to their limits with physically demanding choreography.