The Ingenious Knight of La Mancha and his Cultural Legacy: Four Centuries of Creativity Inspired by Don Quixote: (lecture 4 of 4)
Diane Coburn Bruning, choreographer and artistic director, Chamber Dance Project

Two Dance Interpretations of Don Quixote: Don Quixote is a ballet in four acts and eight scenes, based on episodes taken from the famous novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. The most enduring version was choreographed by Marius Petipa with the music of Ludwig Minkus and premiered by the Ballet of the Imperial Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow, Russia on December 26, 1869. Petipa then expanded the ballet into five acts using the same designs for the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet which premiered on November 21, 1871. The leading characters have some of the most challenging roles in classical ballet and have been performed by many of the greatest dancers in history. In 1965 George Balanchine, inspired by his muse Suzanne Farrell, created his own version and played Don Quixote to her Kitri. Diane Coburn Bruning will discuss the original Don Quixote production and the structural elements of classical ballet employed and then touch upon the more recent Balanchine version.

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