Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – After a few postponements, the Joffrey Ballet dances a swift and spirited DON QUIXOTE at the Lyric Opera House

• By drediman
• June 6, 2022
• No Comments

After two postponements due to the ongoing scheduling challenges presented by the pandemic, Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet is finally presenting its crowd-pleasing staging of Don Quixote at the Lyric Opera House, the venue to which the company had recently moved its performances. Although I miss the stadium seating and the singular beauty afforded by attending performances at the Louis Sullivan-designed Auditorium Theatre (where the company previously performed), Joffrey’s Don Quixote actually fits quite nicely on the larger stage of the splendidly appointed Lyric. And thanks to the great acoustics of the opera house, the ballet’s bright score by Ludwig Minkus sounded vibrant and present under the baton of Scott Speck. So at the end of the day, the move was a smart one.

In short, Yuri Possokhov’s inspired 2011 version of the beloved warhorse (after Marius Petipa’s original vision) is swift and spirited, utilizing a significant amount of video projections – mostly of a collage of vivid vintage artwork – to move things along clearly and cinematically. Although Possokhov’s choreography is modeled after Petipa’s underlying design and construction, he pushes the dance to the forefront, eliminating extraneous miming and thereby keeping the running time to an efficiently paced two hours (including an intermission). Similar to the Tony-winning musical Man of La Mancha, the famous adventures of the endearingly deluded titular knight are smartly and effectively framed by Cervantes and the escapist literary worlds he created. Don Quixote is after all nothing if not escapist. In short, the move was a smart idea.

Under the guidance of artistic director Ashley Wheater, the Joffrey has over the years transformed itself into a company in a more classical mold (similar to American Ballet Theatre). At the performance I attended, the dancing throughout was technically proficient, if a bit stolid and workmanlike in places. This could certainly be said of Amanda Assucena’s Kitri and Alberto Velazquez’s Basilio. Thankfully, in the roles of the secondary couple Espada and Mercedes, Stefan Goncalvez and Olivia Duryea showed more flair. Faring best of all, however, were Yumi Kanazawa and Miu Tanaka as Kitri’s best friends, as well as Gayeon Jung as the Dryad Queen in the sumptuously choreographed dream sequence. Each danced with style and lightness that was immensely appealing. All-in-all, the experience was a welcome installment in my continued immersion in Chicago’s performing arts scene.

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DON QUIXOTE
Dance
Joffrey Ballet at the Lyric Opera House
2 hours (with one intermission)
Through June 12