SFB-Don Q Casts

[PeggyR]

Here's the link.

Casting

In the event of injury or illness, casting is subject to change

*Denotes premiere in role

+Performed role with another company

Don Quixote

Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson and Yuri Possokhov (after Gorsky and Petipa)

Composer: Léon Minkus

Conductor: Martin West (all performances)

PROGRAM 8: OPENING NIGHT – Friday, April 27 – 8:00PM

Kitri: Vanessa Zahorian

Basilio: Joan Boada

Don Quixote: Jim Sohm*

Sancho Panza: Pascal Molat

Gamache: Myles Thatcher*

PROGRAM 8: Saturday, April 28 – 8:00PM

Kitri: Maria Kochetkova+

Basilio: Taras Domitro+

Don Quixote: Jim Sohm

Sancho Panza: Pascal Molat

Gamache: Myles Thatcher

PROGRAM 8: Sunday, April 29 – 2:00PM

Kitri: Frances Chung*

Basilio: Vitor Luiz+

PROGRAM 8: Tuesday, May 1– 8:00PM

Kitri: Maria Kochetkova

Basilio: Taras Domitro

PROGRAM 8: Wednesday, May 2 – 7:30PM

Kitri: Vanessa Zahorian

Basilio: Davit Karapetyan

PROGRAM 8: Thursday, May 3– 8:00PM

Kitri: Frances Chung

Basilio: Vitor Luiz

PROGRAM 8: Friday, May 4 – 8:00PM

Kitri: Maria Kochetkova

Basilio: Gennadi Nedvigin

PROGRAM 8: Saturday, May 5– 2:00PM

Kitri: Frances Chung

Basilio: Carlos Quenedit+

PROGRAM 8: Saturday, May 5– 8:00PM

Kitri: Vanessa Zahorian

Basilio: Davit Karapetyan

PROGRAM 8: Sunday, May 6– 2:00PM

Kitri: Maria Kochetkova

Basilio: Gennadi Nedvigin

[Quiggin]

Now Camacho the Rich [Gamache], in order to show how little he resented or thought of the trick played on him, desired that the entertainments might proceed as if he was really to be married. Neither Basilio, however, nor his bride, nor their followers would take any part in it, and they withdrew to Basilio’s village; for the poor, if they are persons of virtue and good sense, have those who follow, honor and support them, just at the rich have those who flatter and dance attendance on them.

This production is a huge rich pastry of new layers and ancillary materials, as if Don Quixote had been mixed up with Coppelia. It’s quite pleasurable, though I found it difficult to tune out all the chattery and repetitious mime in the background. The dancing between Kitri and Basilio is still the main attraction.

And there is a beautiful and very moving dance that has been added - a sort of sultry tango with a guitar, a Balanchine-like constuction where Kitri leans backwards, like the front wheel fork of a bicycle, and leads in tiny steps while Basilio supports and steers from behind. At one point he holds her and a guitar around her at the same time.

I found the colors of the new costumes, such as the orange and teal blue combinations of the toreadors, often too bright and restless - overcooked Fauvish combinations that Matisse himself (who visited San Francisco in 1930) might have had to turn his gaze away from.

Zahorian and Boada, Kochetkova and Domitro were in the first week’s casts and gave lovely and nicely contrasting performances. Domitro seemed to have fine tuned his approach the second time out on Tuesday: a bit more relaxed and all his steps and “tricks” were tossed off with greater ease and grace - though his round of leaps around the stage were just slightly less brilliant.

It would be interesting to hear any comparisons between this, the previous version, and other companies' Don Quixotes.