Swept off my feet: Hong Kong Ballet's Don Quixote

Don Quixote is one of those ballets that brings a rush of warm fuzzy feelings of excitement for the audience before the show. It's a light story ballet sprinkled with love and laughter. The libretto  itself is colorful. The music from Ludwig Minkus is  absolutely exquisite. The very basic choreography of Marius Petipa  from which all versions are largely based is exciting. It's very difficult to not like this ballet regardless of  who restaged or performed it. Theoretically speaking, you can do no wrong with this ballet. 

I caught the evening show of Hong Kong Ballet last Aug 22, 2014. The set was ready for us as we entered the theatre. When the music started, the image (similar to the graphic above) came to life and ushered us forward to the  the beginning of  Don Quixote's journey. That was definitely a cute and unexpected touch that tickled my fancy. Kudos to  Billy Chan ( Lighting Director) and Thomas Mika ( Set Designer ) for that simple  but tasteful introduction. Unfortunately, there was very little follow through. The set transitioned into  the town and out came the dancers looking  painfully bored with not a touch of spanish flair.Act 1 corp de ballet was a huge disappointment. Either I need a pair of glasses or the dancers thought they were transported to the set of Giselle or even Swan Lake in townspeople mode. Don Quixote is a spanish ballet. This is what makes it special, a different flavor. Unfortunately I don't think the dancers understood  that. I have been an avid fan of Hong Kong Ballet and truth be told, I've never been this underwhelmed by their corp de ballet ( which in my opinion has always delivered). I suspect a lot of them were new to the company but I could be wrong. 

Thankfully, the leads bursted on stage exploding with energy. Anna Tsygankova with the charm of a spanish senorita exuding effervescent beauty. She was such a breath of fresh air. It was almost heroic as she disrupted the energy of the corp de ballet .She was soon followed by  the adonis that is Mathew Golding. His machismo was definitely inviting. These two Dutch National Ballet Prilncipals were not just aesthetically pleasing. They really delivered in Act 1. As Basilio, Golding easily nailed all of his pirouettes averaging four revolutions each time. His flexibility will make women hate him (or love him even more). I can talk about his sharpe double cabrioles or  swift saut de  basque that defy gravity. However that's not what makes him special.

This male danseur was born an actor. While doing all  of his technical steps as well as ably partnering his Kitri, he was able to add nuances to  his performance. In between, there were kisses to the shoulder,  double looks to his Kitri snd even solo moments of comedy. All were heavily appreciated by the audience.  His Kitri Anna Tsygankova danced beautifully in her  first variation and pas de deux. Noteworthy  is how she managed to dance the very slow and pianissimo-ish rendition of the variation. I was clapping louder and faster in my head. If i could only do mental telepathy I would have told the orchestra to speed up! Nonetheless, her vitality was extraordinary. It didn't seem to bother her a bit . Her professionalism  showed in her every developpe'. Her tour de finis had a confident bravura to it. Her tour jetes just looked wonderful. 

Kitri's friends were performed with good technique by  Jessica Burrows and Yi Sugawara. I just wished they had enjoyed themselves more and pushed the spanish flair a bit more. Character actor Jonathan Spigner as Gamache was a hoot. His physical acting was quite funny. 

In Act 2, better dancers were showcased in the the ensemble. That was the Hong Kong Ballet I was familiar with. The vision scene was executed nicely with impeccable clarity in movement from all the dancers. The younger dancers were just so adorable. It warmed my heart to see them perform with  conviction.  Dryad Queen  Gao Ge was classically clean and graceful melting down on her feet beautifully with every landing. Cupid Naomi Yuzawa was endearing.  Her hopping turns were clap worthy. Anna Tsygankova was elegant in her variation. Again, bothersome was how incredibly SLOOOOOOOW the tempo of the music was during the hops on one leg. 

In the wedding scene, Liu Miao-Miao sparkled in her black flashy costume. She definitely got the memo. Though the dance was more character than  technique, I appreciated her style. I would love to see more of her in the next opportunities that come. In the Grand Pas De Deux, the couple earned howls of bravo from the audience. The one handed lifts by Golding were particularly amusing as while Tsygankova was suspended in the air, she would do a few cutesy head twists.  I loved Tsgankova's flashy fouttes. She did single single double fouettes with her fan opening on the double turns. I believe this is her signature style. I've seen her on You tube doing it just as perfectly.  Not to be outdone, Golding did a series of ala seconde turns followed by quadruple attitude turns  and pull ins. I did want to see a little bit more of jumping tricks from Golding as I'm absolutely certain  he is more than capable of doing them. I would have loved to see more spagat or maybe a hellicopter or 560 to add to his tricks. 

When the curtains closed, I realized I was a bit disappointed with some of the dancers of Hong Kong Ballet . This is only because I've been a fan for a number of years.  A lot of dancers have seemingly left or moved on from the Company and now they have the burden of being equally good or better.  Taking everything into account, the show was still a total success. There were a lot of redeeming factors in the show.  I was swept off my feet by the guests. They really did make the difference this time around. I am now officially a fan of both Golding and Tsygankova. 

Don Quixote remains  one of the joyful ballets that can go on replay any day of the year. Til we meet again Hong Kong Ballet. Sending you all my love and support. 

  With Filipino Dance Candice Adea and  my husband Lucas Jacinto 

Hong Kong Street arts says "Art Saves Lives!" I agree.