The opening night of a live performance always has an invaluable energy to it \u2014 the buzz of the crowd serves as a reminder of the excitement that continues to surround an art as traditional and curated as ballet, more than 500 years after its emergence during the Italian Renaissance.<\/p>\n
If \u201cno one cares\u201d about ballet, as a certain ping-pong-obsessed A-list actor has virally propagated this year, it was certainly not evident during the opening of San Francisco Ballet\u2019s \u201cDon Quixote\u201d on Mar. 19 at the shimmering War Memorial Opera House.<\/p>\n
The beloved tale of Miguel de Cervantes\u2019 \u201cDon Quixote\u201d is a fun and adventurous story that invites laughter and connection. SF Ballet\u2019s rendition of the story brought the adventurous spirit, the dazzling set design and not to mention a pair of real horses to the stage last week.<\/p>\n
As the titular Don Quixote, Nathaniel Remez moved like an expressive animatronic \u2014 his movements fascinatingly cartoonish and fluid. Quixote and his trusty companion Sancho Panza (Pascal Molat) squabbled and ran around the stage in hilarious sequences. As Quixote journeyed on and encountered a lively square in Barcelona, he found Kitri (Sasha De Sola), the daughter of the innkeeper, a grouchy man who insists on her marriage to the wealthy and pompous Gamache instead of her real love, Basilio (Francesco Gabriele Frola).<\/p>\n
De Sola is a graceful, technically precise dancer. Her portrayal of Kitri, while sweet and polite, lacked a bit of Kitri\u2019s signature carefree playfulness. She appears as a natural turner and balancer but seemed slightly stalled by opening night nervousness.<\/p>\n
However, De Sola\u2019s depiction of Dulcinea in Act 2\u2019s dream sequence was elegant and shining. Shifting from a Mediterranean village to an icy blue setting, the variation emphasizes her delicate precision and converts her restrained demeanor to gleaming elegance.<\/p>\n
Frola is charming as Basilio, embodying the endearing sweetness and spontaneity of his character. Frola is a powerful jumper, floating in the air and resulting in a dazzling 540 jump in Act 3, a move that involves kicking his leg straight into the air, leaving the whole room in awe.<\/p>\n
De Sola\u2019s shining moment is alongside Frola in the second act\u2019s pas de deux. Alone for the first time, the pace of the story slows down to allow our two central characters to develop past their flirtatious attractions and truly fall in love.<\/p>\n
Frola\u2019s chemistry with De Sola feels effortlessly realistic. The two execute stunning sweeping jumps into lifts, melting into each other. Along with the romantic sways and the orchestra\u2019s crescendos, the scene is a standout gem among the ballet. The development of the characters was aided backstage by acting coach Javier Galit\u00f3-Cava, whose efforts were focused on emphasizing the humanity and artistry of the dancers.<\/p>\n
Jasmine Jimison particularly embodied the bold character of Mercedes, the legendary bullfighter Espada\u2019s partner. Jimison playfully lingers during Mercedes\u2019 long, iconic backbends, staring out into the audience and clearly having fun with them. The material and flowy outlines of her costumes complemented Jimison\u2019s stunningly long, exaggerated lines and high attitudes. Outfitted in a shimmery midnight blue dress in the Act 2 tavern scene and a ruffling celeste gown for the wedding in the third act, both designed by Martin Pakledinaz, Jimison brings the sultriness and sass that the audience craves in a performance of \u201cDon Quixote.\u201d<\/p>\n
The town square fills with villagers for the fandango dance, and it is then that the brilliance of the costume design comes full circle. The costumes are Pakledinaz\u2019s masterpieces, the looks exuding stunning high fashion couture with a ballet flair.<\/p>\n
While Frola regrettably left the stage during the final coda following a leg injury, the celebration continued as the dancers quickly adapted and completed the performance. For an audience that repeatedly turns a blind eye to the arduous strain and athleticism ballet demands, often fooled by its grace, injuries like this remind us how immense the effort behind ballet is and how a performance\u2019s magic comes from both its flaws and achievements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The opening night of a live performance always has an invaluable energy to it \u2014 the buzz of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245234,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[73880,109763,109765,109768,109769,109764,109766,109767,101,103,102,109762,104,30731,106,105,19034],"class_list":{"0":"post-245233","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-don-quixote","9":"tag-francesco-gabriele-frola","10":"tag-jasmine-jimison","11":"tag-javier-galit-cava","12":"tag-martin-pakledinaz","13":"tag-miguel-de-cervantes","14":"tag-nathaniel-remez","15":"tag-pascal-molat","16":"tag-san-francisco","17":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","18":"tag-san-francisco-news","19":"tag-sasha-de-sola","20":"tag-sf","21":"tag-sf-ballet","22":"tag-sf-headlines","23":"tag-sf-news","24":"tag-war-memorial-opera-house"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}