Banish the winter blues with a sunny trip to Spain
CINCINNATI, OH (January 24, 2024) – Cincinnati Ballet opens choreographer Anna Marie Holmes’ Don Quixote February 16, with live music performed by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. With performances at Music Hall through February 25, Don Quixote is inspired by Cervantes’ literary masterpiece and features an elaborate production, more than one hundred roles and of course, a windmill! With a host of dynamic characters, including Don Quixote and his trusted squire Sancho Panza; the flirtatious Kitri; her love interest, the barber Basilio; and many more, Don Quixote is considered ballet’s original romantic comedy.
The production is family-friendly and includes young dancers from the Cincinnati Ballet Otto M. Budig Academy. The production includes romance, laughs, bullfights, travelers, and more.
In addition to virtuoso ballet, the production features energetic Flamenco as well. “It’s an incredible, colorful, funny, high-spirited classical ballet,” said Cervilio Amador, Interim Artistic Director. “It has a delightful story, humor, and energy that will have the audience on their feet. Cincinnati Ballet has not performed this classic work in many, many years, so this will be a fresh theater experience I am betting they will want to see again and again.” Anna-Marie Holmes, the first American dancer to train and dance in Soviet Russia, has staged this production, based a few chapters from Miguel de Cervantes classic novel that tells the tale of the quintessential dreamer, Don Quixote. The Don, with his trusted confidante, Sancho Panza, embarks on an adventure to find his ideal love, Dulcinea. Their paths cross with Kitri and Basilio, a pair of young lovers, as well as a colorful cast of toreadors and travelers!
Don Quixote includes one of the most well-known dances in the ballet repertory: the pas de deux between lovers Kitri and Basilio, as well as the notoriously challenging ‘Kitri jump.’ The music is from the score by Ludwig Minkus, performed live by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Tickets are on sale now, starting at $29 at cballet.org.
PERFORMANCE DATES AND INFORMATION
WHO: Cincinnati Ballet
Choreography: Anna Marie Holmes
Music: Ludwig Minkus, performed with the Cincinnati Symphony
Orchestra
WHAT: Don Quixote
WHEN:
- Friday, February 16 – 7:30 pm
- Saturday, February 17 – 2:00 pm
- Saturday, February 17 – 7:30 pm
- Sunday, February 18 – 1:00 pm
- Friday, February 23 – 7:30 pm
- Saturday, February 24 – 2:00 pm
- Saturday, February 24 – 7:30 pm
- Sunday, February 25 – 1 pm
WHERE: Music Hall – 1241 Elm St., Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
Cincinnati Ballet 2023-2024 Season Sponsors:
PNC, Margaret and Michael Valentine, ArtsWave, H.B., E.W. & F.R. Luther Foundation, Louise Dieterle Nippert Musical Arts Fund, Ohio Arts Council, The Austin E. Knowlton Foundation
About Cincinnati Ballet
Since 1963, Cincinnati Ballet has been the cornerstone professional ballet company of the region, presenting a bold and adventurous array of classical, full-length ballets and contemporary works, regularly with live orchestral accompaniment. Cincinnati Ballet is a creative force within the larger dance community, commissioning world-premiere works and exploring unique collaborations. With a mission to enrich, expand, and excel in the art of dance through performance, a high-caliber academy, and impactful education and community engagement in local to global communities, Cincinnati Ballet reaches beyond the stage in programs that allow every person in the region to be part of the continued evolution of dance. To that end, Cincinnati Ballet presents exhilarating performances, provides extensive education and community engagement programs, and offers top-level professional ballet training at Cincinnati Ballet Otto M. Budig Academy.
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