Marianela Nunez’s rendition Kitri in The Royal Ballet’s production of Don Quixote is amazing. Kitri, if one doesn’t know, is the lead character in Don Quixote’s ballet-adjusted version. She embodies the Mediterranean dream of men: a flirtive, sexy and charismatic matured woman in her signature red dress.
The first time I watched it I was in awe. After almost infinite replays I came to realize that Nela’s Kitri is by far the most nuanced classical artistic performance I’ve ever seen.
To begin with, for art, especially classical art such as ballet or opera, its expressive power is bounded by form. For example, classical ballet (’classical’ in contrast to modern ballet) has numerous, almost trivial (yet actually vital) rules for dancers to follow. For example, no matter how fancy a coda solo might be, the choreography is built up by basic moves: arabesque, attitude, pirouette, to name a few.
So, the first and foremost task for a ballerina is to dance the moves properly. There is space for interpretation, but nothing makes any sense if the dancer can’t finish the dance at a high-enough standard in the first place. This is almost ballet’s reflection of the classicism that it represents.
Kitri enters is where in the first act of Don Quixote, we get to meet the ballet’s heroine Kitri. The story took place in a Spanish, rural secular fair. The crowd clap and cheer on beats with Kitri moving in an oval three times around the stage, where Spanish flair is added on top of classical ballet, through arm gestures pulled from flamenco, and big kicks and leaps, including the famous “Kitri” or “Plisetskaya jump,” where the dancer almost kicks herself in the head.
Watch here.