Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet performs the spectacular, full-length classic Don Quixote, May 23 to 26, 2012 in the NAC’s Southam Hall, accompanied by the NAC Orchestra. Considered one of the world’s greatest ballet companies, the Bolshoi Ballet will dazzle at every opportunity, showcasing the company’s precious artistry, infectious energy, and masterful demonstrations of classical technique.
Originally created for the Bolshoi Ballet by Marius Petipa in 1869, Don Quixote remains one of the company’s signature productions, conjuring images of technical wizardry and astonishing feats. Glittering costumes, lavish sets, and Ludwig Minkus’s sweeping score add to the overall splendour of the critically lauded adaptation by choreographer Alexei Fadeyechev. Fadeyechev’s colourful production provides the perfect setting for the company’s technical bravura and finesse. It is Russian ballet at its most powerful and thrilling, transporting audiences to a make-believe Spain where dryads, gypsies, and knights appear out of nowhere.
Based loosely on Miguel de Cervantes’s famous novel ‘Don Quixote de la Mancha,’ Don Quixote - the ballet in three acts - follows Spain’s legendary hero Don Quixote and his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, to the famed city of Barcelona on a quest for his dream lover, Dulcinea. However, during his travels he meets the high-spirited Kitri whose father would rather she marry a rich fool than the penniless but dashing Basilio. The mischievous lovers, Kitri and Basilio, take flight and their adventures fill the stage with teaming street life, the cadence of castanets and tambourines, and whirling matadors.  Don Quixote mistakes Kitri for the woman of his dreams on several occasions, but the valiant knight and his faithful sword-bearer help the young couple in this classic tale.
As an international symbol of Russian culture and tradition, the Bolshoi’s productions meet the highest standards. With a wide repertoire ranging from national classics and worldwide masterpieces to grandiose new productions, the Bolshoi aims to place its classical heritage into the context of a modern Russian society, embracing new approaches to creative work.

"The Bolshoi Ballet perform Don Quixote with breathtaking brilliance."
~ The London Telegraph

Don Quixote
Music: Ludwig Minkus
Libretto: Marius Petipa
Choreography: Marius Petipa, Alexander Gorsky
New Choreographic Version: Alexei Fadeyechev
Set Designer: Sergei Barkhin
Costumes, based on sketches by Vasily Diyachkov (1903), revived by Tatiana Artamonova and Yelena Merkurova
Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes, including 2 intermissions
Ballet pre-show chat (English only)
Wednesday May 23, 2012
7pm, Le Salon (off NAC main foyer)

Join Kathryn Jones, former instructor of art and dance history at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, for a pre-show ballet chat. Kathryn will speak to the evolution of ballet in Russia, to the ballet Don Quixote specifically, and to its place in the Russian classics.

Bolshoi Ballet master class
Saturday May 26, 2012
9:00 to 10:30 am

The class will be taught by Alexander Vetrov. The class is for pre-professional/ professional ballet dancers and advanced level ballet students (aged 16 and up).

• Rehearsal Hall B, National Arts Centre, 53 Elgin Street, Ottawa (Enter by Stage Door)
• $20, payable in cash on site
• BALLET TEACHERS AND DANCE STUDIOS: You are invited to select your top TWO students for the opportunity to take this class. Registrations will be accepted through your recommendation only.
• Adult professional dancers can register themselves. Register: soutter@magma.ca 613-947-7000 ext 588

The Hotel Partner supporting this production is the Lord Elgin Hotel.

Bolshoi Ballet’s Don Quixote performs in the Southam Hall from Wednesday, May 23 to Saturday, May 26, 2012 at 8 p.m. and on May 26 at 1:30 p.m. Tickets are $69.96, $87.17, $109.77 and $129.14 for adults and $36.48, $45.09, $56.39 and $66.07 for students (upon presentation of a valid student ID card).

Groups of 10 or more save 15% to 20% off regular ticket prices; to reserve your seats, call 613-947-7000, ext. 634 or e-mail grp@nac-cna.ca.

Tickets are available for purchase:
• In person at the NAC Box Office
• At all Ticketmaster outlets
• By telephone from Ticketmaster, 1-888-991-2787 (ARTS)
• Online through the Ticketmaster link on the NAC’s website (www.nac-cna.ca)
• A service charge applies on all purchases made through Ticketmaster

This production is eligible for the Trinity Live Rush program. Full-time students aged 13-29 with a valid Live Rush membership may buy up to two tickets per performance at the discounted price of only $12 per ticket. Live Rush tickets are available from 10 a.m. on the day before the performance until 6 p.m. on the day of the performance. This includes all available seats, including the best seats in the house. Check out liverush.ca for information on the Trinity Live Rush program.

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For more information, please call:
Eleri Evans
Marketing and Communications Officer, Dance
National Arts Centre
613-947-7000 ext. 379; e-mail: eleri.evans@nac-cna.ca
or visit the NAC website at www.nac-cna.ca