A ‘Don Quijote’ with a Spanish label breaks into vibrant at the Teatro Real with a vibrant national dance company

The National Dance Company (CND) has released this Thursday, February 27, at the Teatro Real, the first of the five functions of one of the most popular ballets of classical dance, a ‘Don Quixote’ with a marked Spanish accent, a proposal received between applause over two and a half hours of function.

Under the artistic direction of Muriel Romero, the ballet is based on an episode of the second volume of ‘El Quijote’ of Cervantes (Chapter XXI, ‘where the weddings of Camacho and other tasty events are continued’) and premiered on December 26, 1869 at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, with the original of Marius Petipa.

The colorful costumes and the cheerful staging of the new version of the CND, full of capes and fans, not forgetting the classics Tutús, have captivated the public of the Madrid coliseum on Thursday, which has exhausted tickets for all functions, from February 27 to March 2 in the capital.

Among those attending the premiere, were the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun; the general director of INAEM, Paz Santa Cecilia; France ambassador to Spain, Kareen Rispal; the Deputy Director of Music and Danza INAEM, Ana Belén Faus; the president of the Board of Protectors of the Teatro Real, Fernando Ruiz; the CEO of Coverwallet, Iñaki Berenguer; the CEO of Telefónica, Sergio Oslé; or the rector of the University of Navarra, María Iraburu Elizalde.

‘Don Quixote’ focuses on the loves of Basilio and Quiteria (an empowered woman who decides her future since lovers must overcome the opposition of the bride’s father to be able to culminate his love story), while the adventures of Don Quijote and Sancho are in the back The wedding of lovers, a ceremony that has even had invitations distributed by the dancers themselves among the public in the second of the breaks.

The cast headed by some applauded Yanier Gómez Noda and Giada Rossi has led the mass to offer a more earthly show that gives its prominence to the townspeople.

Another identity sign of this ‘Don Quixote’ is his choreography, created for the CND by José Carlos Martínez when he was in charge of the company (from 2011 to 2019, he is now the current director of the Opera de Paris Opera Ballet), with a great technical difficulty and complex variations, which offers a greater prominence of Spanish dance.

As Martínez himself highlighted in the presentation press conference, this ballet-inspired in the versions of Marius Petipa and Alexander Gorski- is characterized by his “Spanish seal”, as reflected in the dressing room of the dancers, dresses of bullfighters, as well as in the real layers that are used in the representation, “pure magic”, as he said. To highlight, among others, the choreography of the bolero and the fandango, the work of Mayte Chico, dancer of the ballet of Antonio Gades.

100 functions in Spain

‘Don Quixote’ was the first classic repertoire work that the CND led to the stage, on December 16, 2015 at the Teatro de la Zarzuela (Madrid) and that will fulfill the 100 functions in Spain with the representation that, precisely, will take place this Friday, February 28.

Meanwhile, the music of Ludwig Minkus will be played by the titular orchestra of the Royal Theater under the direction of Manuel Coves, with Elna Matamoros as assistant to the choreographer and staging. The artistic team is completed with Raúl García Guerrero (scenery), Carmen Granell (costume), Lou Valérie Dubuis (characterization, makeup and wigs) and Nicolás Fischtel (lighting), among others.