Artists of the Leonid Yakobson Ballet Theatre
The performance lasts 2 hours and 30 minutes
There will be two intervals
Don Quixote at the Leonid Yacobson Ballet Theatre was created to commemorate two centuries since the of birth of Marius Petipa and immediately became a firm favourite with audiences and professionals alike – the production has been included in a Russian and international tour programme of the Golden Mask festival. Johan Kobborg has produced his own version of this legendary ballet to music by Ludwig Minkus. Denmark’s Kobborg, having himself recently dazzled as Basilio in Don Quixote, has demonstrated a fresh approach to an eternal classic. The ballet-master did not reject former choreographic gems, instead unifying them so that each and every audience feels at home in this celebration of dance. In his version of the ballet, Miguel de Cervantes makes his appearance – he is writing his novel before our very eyes. Here there is the hot Spanish sun, there is the fast-paced storyline, there is the fiery temperament of the characters, all underscored by the luxuriant designs by the internationally acclaimed Jérôme Kaplan.
“Kobborg ‘thinks’ dance as a wonderful dancer and is logical as an heir to the Danish school. He has given to the toreador Espada and the Street Dancer a love story, since they have been competing in dance for an age, and also to Sancho Panza, deprived of female attention, as he is pinched by the girls. The scene of Don Quixote’s dream is highlighted with a gentle humour: the unworldly creatures of the corps de ballet are clad in peasant dresses elevated to tutus – which is logical if the knight sees a Beautiful Lady in the daughter of the innkeeper. And the designer Jérôme Kaplan, inspired by the engravings of Gustave Doré for Don Quixote, has created a production that is powerful and cultured in a way not typical of ballet.”
Rossiyskaya Gazeta
“The young company has enthusiastically accepted the challenge. For many of those participating in the production, this Don Quixote was the first in their lives, and they had not only to learn the complex supports and fouettés (with Kobborg this is so even for the traditionally ‘pedestrian’ Gamache, Kitri’s luckless betrothed), but also, first and foremost, the vanishing art of pantomime, which is generously sprinkled throughout this version on all of the characters.”
Bolshoi Theatre magazine
“The colourful and original costumes are amazing, as are the lovingly and tastefully conceived sets, produced by French theatre designer Jérôme Kaplan.”
Echo
The production has been made possible thanks to the support of Mr Toshihiko Takahashi
The St Petersburg State Academic Leonid Yacobson Ballet Theatre directed by Honoured Artist of Russia Andrian Fadeyev is a unique dance company. The theatre can take pride in its fifty-year history and is privileged to bear the name of one of the 20th century’s most outstanding Russian choreographers. Today, the St Petersburg State Academic Leonid Yacobson Ballet Theatre is one of the country’s greatest ballet companies and it has been a recipient of St Petersburg’s loftiest theatre award the Golden Sofit, Russia’s national theatre prize the Golden Mask and the prestigious Taglioni European Ballet Award.
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