“I’ve always liked Don Quixote,” read the text I sent a friend at intermission.  “It’s happy!”  It’s also fun.  The Sleeping Beauty and Don Quixote are comparable-length three act classical ballets, but given one word I would describe the former as long and the latter as fun.

With its brightly-lit stage, colorful costumes, and absurd plot, Don Quixote is a sunny, happy ballet. It’s been years since I last saw the ballet live, in a go-for-broke performance by American Ballet Theatre that had the audience so revved up they were practically screaming during the coda of the grand pas in Act III.  So I was excited to see San Francisco Ballet’s production of Don Quixote, featuring a young soloist, Wona Park, as Kitri, alongside Joseph Walsh as Basilio.

Ms. Park’s debut as Kitri was perfectly assured; she didn’t bat an eye at any of the technical challenges.  Her characterization needed a bit more work—I would have liked to see more personality, more feistiness—but she has time to develop that.  Mr. Walsh was out much of last season due to injury and it was good to have him back onstage.  As Kitri’s friends, Isabella DeVivo and Julia Rowe were very well-matched, perfectly together.  They made the most of their stage time, appearing to be quite enjoying themselves.  Also deserving of special mention were WanTing Zhao as Mercedes, who was undaunted by the Toreadors’ uncooperative prop knives, and Ellen Rose Hummel as the Gitana Woman.  Both threw themselves into their roles, playing to the whole house.

I’ve complained in the past that too often I leave new full-length ballets feeling that there hasn’t been enough dancing.  This is not the case with Don Quixote, which is jam-packed with dancing from the get-go.  It was so refreshing!  Groups, solos, pas de deux; men, women, children—with plenty of opportunities to feature dancers beyond the lead couple.  I have to think that ballets like this are appreciated by the company, as it gives dancers at all ranks a lot of stage time.

The frivolity that I love in Don Quixote is the very reason that many people, critics in particular, often seem to look down on it.  But you don’t go to Don Quixote for the story, or the drama.  You go for the dancing.  The ballet students sitting next to me clearly understood this, jumping to their feet applauding the moment the curtain came down, clearly delighted with the performance.

Don Quixote was fun, enjoyable, well-danced escapism.  It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it hit the spot for me!

San Francisco Ballet:  Don Quixote
January 29, 2019, at 7:30 pm at the War Memorial Opera House