Don Quixote review: Carlos Acosta’s company are having a good time

Birmingham Royal Ballet’s production is both confident in style and storytelling

Rory Mackay as Gamache, with Artists of Birmingham Royal Ballet in Don Quixote (Credit: Johan Persson)

Carlos Acosta’s Don Quixote is a major calling card for Birmingham Royal Ballet, underlining his ambitions as director of the company. This is a large-scale work, with demanding classical technique and a lavish new production. And it pays off. It’s a sunny evening, packed with dancing, with a company confident both in the style and the storytelling.

As a ballet Don Quixote is a long, long way from Cervantes. The melancholic Spanish knight wanders through the action, but it’s really a rom-com for young lovers Kitri and Basilio. Originally created by Marius Petipa in 1869, and much revised since, it has a bouncy score by Minkus and a story that whisks us from a Spanish town square to a vision scene with nymphs in tutus.

Acosta’s new production – first scheduled for 2020, but delayed by the pandemic – is tighter and less elaborate than his 2013 production for The Royal Ballet. Tim Hatley’s designs evoke sun-baked landscapes and shady interiors, atmospherically lit by Peter Mumford. There are inventive touches, always at the service of the story. In Nina Dunn’s video design, a windmill on the backdrop morphs and twists, inky hands reaching out from its sails. That moment is creepier than most productions of Don Quixote, without breaking the tone of the ballet.

Momoko Hirata as Kitri and Mathias Dingman as Basilio, with Artists of Birmingham Royal Ballet in Don Quixote (Credit: Johan Persson)

Acosta’s staging has a traditional text, with virtuoso set-pieces, but makes some tweaks. In the vision scene, the role of “Amour” – usually danced by a woman – is reimagined as a flashy male role, with Tzu-Chao Chou bounding gleefully in gold lamé. Acosta is keen to show off his dancers, with touches of characterisation for supporting roles, and plenty of dancing.

As Kitri, Momoko Hirata has light, quick technique and bright stage presence. She soars through the role’s many jumps, and spins fouetté turns with precision. As Basilio, Mathias Dingman partners with easy charm, driving through the whirling jumps. Brandon Lawrence is dashing as the matador Espada, dancing with taut, commanding line. Yu Kirahara had some wobbles as the Queen of the Dryads, but I like her serene upper body and scale of movement.

Don Quixote is a cheerfully flashy ballet. It needs performers who are comfortable with its high energy and show-off numbers. That doesn’t always come easily to British companies, but Birmingham Royal Ballet look happily at home. There’s clear attention to classical style: lots of sharp footwork, easily powered jumps, crisp finishes to the steps. Throughout, there’s a warmth to this production, an affection for the material. This is a company having a good time.

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