Olé, and All That

"Don Quixote"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
May 19, 2011

The perennial charmer of a ballet was danced with great verve by two Cuban-trained dancers, Xiomara Reyes and Rolando Sarabia, a guest from the Miami City Ballet.  ABT's production does have its faults--the gypsy scene looks like Hungarian goulash served by MacDonald's, but when danced well, it has a sunny and infectious charm.  Reyes is a very fine Kitri, with a natural sweetness to temper her spunk.  Her final, gentle farewell to the hapless Don, as she told him that no, she wasn't really the one he was seeking but that he should keep looking, was truly moving.  Her dancing was finely calibrated, not trying to hold her balances to the point of wobbling.  Like many Cuban dancers, she has an impeccable inner gyroscope, and her fouettés in the famous pas de deux (she is a fan holder) were fast, furious, centered, and frequently doubled, as she brought her fan arm up and down.  Yes, it was circusy, but if you don't want to see a circus, you shouldn't go to Don Q.  The audience certainly was primed for action--there were many people speaking Spanish in the lobby, and there was a sense of cheering for the home team, but it was generous and appreciative cheering, which made for a warm-hearted, sunny evening. 

 Sarabia was a very good partner for Reyes, possibly because of their similar training.  He isn't a show-off, but has a notable stage presence and gave the impression of dancing only for his partner; this did not look like a guest star turn.  He seemed at home in the production, and was able to use a dropped flower to add lib seamlessly.  His turns too, were impeccable, and his trick is to bring his bent knee down while turning, gradually slowing down to a graceful stop--we saw it a number of times, much to the audience's delight.  He added, during the pas de deux, a "Look, Ma, one-hand" variation while supporting Reyes' pirouettes, and managed to make this flourish look natural and elegant. 

The supporting cast was very good, as well.  Craig Salstein's foppish Gamache is both broadly funny and witty.  He certainly had the pratfalls timed well, but these were falls by a real character, prissy, vain, but ultimately self-deluded rather than vicious or mean.  He sat in front of his house during the final act, pointing out what he especially liked, seeming to take credit for the happy result.  As has been the custom in the recent past, the feisty gypsy Mercedes and the idealized Queen of the Dryads were danced by the same person, Stella Abrera in this performance.  She has always been an incisive Mercedes, but her Dryad Queen was especially gracious and expansive, even though she didn't quite make it through the tricky Italian fouettés.  Jared Matthews was Espada, the famous (and very active) matador, and he and his equally active cohorts were energetic and remotely Spanish.

They equally active and even more remotely Gypsy couple were Luciana Paris and Daniil Simkin.  The jumps (with some added twists) and turns pose no problem for Simkin, and his performance evoked lots of cheers, and Paris was steamy in her brief solo, but this section does seem to be unnecessary filler.  The vision scene, too, dramatically, is filler, but the magical kaleidoscope of those patterns is a little gem of a plotless ballet, a gift to the audience, which was accepted with gratitude.

copyright © 2011 by Mary Cargill