CHICAGO—“Don Quixote” was scheduled for February 2022 but was put on hold because of COVID. Now, the Joffrey Ballet has mounted it on the Lyric Opera stage, going all out to make up for the delay. The exhilarating presentation was worth the wait.
While there is no stinting on the production values of the show, and the athletic dancers are in top form, its spectacle doesn’t drown out the meaning and the philosophy of the recent, uplifting adaptations.
Heroic Vision and Imagination
Indeed, the novel “Don Quixote” (1605) has had a profound impact on the world to this day: There’s the Broadway musical and movie of “The Man of La Mancha,” and, of course, there’s the ballet.Imaginary Quest
The story follows an aging nobleman whose productive years are behind him and who spends his time reading chivalry novels; soon his imagination runs wild and he sees himself as the heroic figure in one of those novels.
He finds a farmer, Sancho Panza, whom he persuades to be his squire, and the two set off on a quest. During his escapades, Quixote imagines that windmills are dangerous warriors with whom he must fight, that sheep are enemies he must battle, and that a barber’s metal washbasin is a helmet once worn by a famous knight.
Elegant Stagecraft and Music
The story unfolds with the elegant stagecraft of Nicholas Blanc, the imaginative choreography of Yuri Possokhov, based on Marius Petitpa’s classic choreography.The original music by Ludwig Minkus comes from the Bolshoi Ballet’s Russian production, which is delightfully rendered by the Lyric Opera orchestra led by Scott Speck.
The backdrop scenery and lighting by Jack Mehler, which features beautiful sunlit images recalls a landscape of windmills and country towns, and the projections by designer Wendall Harrington and projection programmer Paul Vershbow add to the ballet’s atmospheric yesteryear feel of the show.
The lavish 17th-century Spanish period costumes by Travis Halsey emphasizes the physicality of the extraordinary dancers, and the flying effects by Flying by Foy enhance the magical aspect of Quixote’s fantasy state.
The exquisite production, which unfolds in a series of dream sequences, focuses on the Quixote character, portrayed by Miguel Angel Blanco, and his sidekick Derrick Agnoletti as the comedic Sancho Panza.
A secondary involvement occurs with a romance between Dylan Gutierrez, the barber, who has romantic aspirations toward the innkeeper’s daughter Kitri, given a charming portrayal by Victoria Jaiani.
Some of the highlights of the production include Gutierrez sweeping across the stage in gravity defying leaps and Jaiani’s dizzying spiral turns; Brooke Linford as Mercedes and Stefan Goncalvez in a combination of ballet and flamenco that is breathtaking; and Quixote’s horse Rocinante, a larger-than-life puppet by Vonorthal Puppets, which is animated by Andre McGregor II and David Oldano who inhabit the horse’s hide.
