Paris comes to Tokyo this week with a production from the Théâtre National de Chaillot of a "choreographic essay" by José Montalvo, one of its artistic directors. Featuring 13 dancers and Patrice Thibaud, an actor routinely dubbed a genius, the premiere of "Don Quichotte du Trocadéro" in January met with extraordinary acclaim. Since then, this version of "Don Quixote" has toured in France, Germany, Italy, England — and to Edinburgh, where it wowed the world's largest art festival.
On a trip to Japan in October, Montalvo openly shared his delight at all this during a press conference, where he said, "I am so pleased we have already staged this more than 100 times. As a dance program is normally performed for just a couple of days in one place, you can see we have been doing it almost non-stop this year."
Set in today's workaday Paris, this mixed dance and music piece draws on Miguel de Cervantes' epic 1605 novel about a daydreamer Spanish knight named Alonso who, at the age of 50, realizes he's not achieved anything in his life and sets off with his loyal attendant Sancho Panza to make his mark on the world.
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