From its inception, the ballet "Don Quixote" has been a global collaboration.
Based on an episode from the fancifully sprawling 17th-century Spanish novel "Don Quixote de la Mancha" by Miguel de Cervantes, it was originally choreographed by the Frenchman Marius Petipa, scored by Austrian composer Leon (aka Ludwig) Minkus and premiered at the Imperial Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in 1869. However, the basis for modern productions is a version of Petipa's original that was reworked by the Russian choreographer Alexander Gorsky and first staged at the Bolshoi in 1900.
This weekend, The Tokyo Ballet presents an international "Don Quixote" with a decidedly Russian flair. On Friday and Sunday, the Bolshoi Ballet's guest artists will take the lead roles, while the Saturday performance features the host company's principal dancer Dan Tsukamoto as the romantic barber Basilio opposite its prima ballerina, Mizuka Ueno, as Kitri, the innkeeper's daughter he's in love with.
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