Tag Archives: Don Quixote

Spain’s Compañia Nacional de Danza widens its horizons

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Spain’s Compañía Nacional de Danza (CND) that José Carlos Martínez directs is immersed in a season full of national and international performances. The anniversaries of Madrid’s Plaza Mayor and Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum or the Marius Petipa Tribute that the CND premiered at the Niemeyer Centre Auditorium in Avilés are some of the most recent company productions to have seen the stage.

After visiting the French cities of Blagnac and La Rochelle, the CND travelled to South Korea with a version of Carmen that Johan Inger expressly choreographed for the company. Gyeongnam, Daejeon and Seoul hung the “sold out” sign for this CND production featuring the excellent interpretation by South Korean dancer YaeGee Park of one of the ballet´s main characters, drawing the attention of local media representatives.

This upcoming Christmas season, the CND, which has the support of the LOEWE FOUNDATION, will travel first to Murcia’s Victor Villegas Auditorium and then to Sevilla’s Maestranza Theatre to perform the Jose Carlos Martinez version of Don Quijote. 2018 will commence with a number of challenges for the CND: at the end of January, the Company will return to Madrid’s Pavón Theatre with La CND a la carta 2, to satisfy an ever growing and faithful audience.

Photo Captions: Ana Pérez Nievas in Madrid´s Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum © Mayte Botejara for the CND; 2017. YaeGee Park as The Boy in Carmen ©  Jong-Duk Woo for the CND, 2017.

Don Quixote Dances On Paper

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DonQCNDJovenesPortadaCoinciding with the 400th Anniversary of the Death of Cervantes, the Compañía Nacional de Danza that José Carlos Martínez directs has published a new Educational Booklet, a tool used to help disseminate the Company’s work.

The most recent title of this extraordinary series that distils the essence of the CND’s educational project, carried out with the support of the LOEWE FOUNDATION, features the José Carlos Martínez version of Don Quixote’s ballet, which premiered at Madrid’s Teatro de la Zarzuela in December of 2015. In this Booklet’s versions – one for younger readers and one for adults– we learn about the secrets behind the staging of this ballet and its link to the Cervantes novel.

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Elna Matamoros –Ballet Master of the CND and Advisor to the LOEWE FOUNDATION– is, once again, the author of the texts and the person in charge of choosing the accompanying images, which in this case includes photos of the ballet performance as well as prints taken from the Don Quixote of la Mancha edition illustrated by Gustavo Doré and Carmen Granel costume designs.

The CND’s Educational Booklets, which are distributed during the Company’s open rehearsals, are the perfect tool to familiarise oneself with Don Quixote prior to enjoying the performance, as they open the doors to the chivalrous, burlesque and romantic world portrayed in the ballet, on tour throughout Spain for the next few months. These publications can also be downloaded at no charge through the CND’s website or by clicking on the following links.

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Photo Captions: front cover of the Don Quixote Booklet for younger readers. CND Educational Booklets. Illustration: “… the invention and fancy he read…”. Don Quixote of la Mancha. Illustration 1, Ch.1. by Gustavo Doré (1863). Layout by Anabel Poveda. El fandango. Costume by Carmen Granel for the CND, 2015.

 

The CND shines with Don Quixote

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The premiere of the ballet Don Quixote by the Compañía Nacional de Danza and its Artistic Director, José Carlos Martínez, has become the most awaited dance event. Last time this company performed a full-length ballet it was over twenty years ago. This version of Don Quixote by Martínez has become an absolute recognition of his artistic project. He has been very respectful towards tradition, emphasising the Spanish roots of the piece. The anniversary of the publication of the second part of the novel Don Quixote by Cervantes and the centenary of his death, makes 2016 the perfect year for the CND to present this ballet and to tour it internationally.

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The CND, sponsored by the LOEWE FOUNDATION, has a full repertoire which explores all dance styles and now includes one of the most famous works in Dance History. Don Quixote first premiered in Moscow in 1869 as a ballet inspired by two chapters of the second part of the novel by Cervantes, in which the original choreographer Marius Petipa left a strong Spanish imprint in all the characters.SehYunKim

José Carlos Martínez has built his choreography after that first work by Petipa and Gorsky’s later revision, as well as after the versions he performed during his brilliant career as a dancer. His priority, however, has been to emphasise the Spanish dances beyond what Petipa himself could do in Russia. Martínez plays with the Spanish folklore and underlines the character of our bailes.  He has invited choreographer Mayte Chico to collaborate in his creation in order to achieve in this Don Quixote an authentic flamenco flavour.

Guest dancers Elisa Badenes, Cristina Casa, Joaquín de Luz and Maria Kochetkova are welcomed these days in the cast playing the lead roles alongside the dancers of the CND: Aitor Arrieta, Esteban Berlanga, Moisés Martín, Haruhi Otani, YaeGee Park and Alessandro Riga.

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The performances of Don Quixote will continue throughout the Holidays at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid, until next January 3rd.

More information: 915 245 400, teatrodelazarzuela.mcu.es and at the box office of the theatre.

Photographs: Corps de Ballet, She Yun Kim with Iván Sánchez and Joaquín de Luz with YaeGee Park in Don Quixote © Jesús Vallinas for CND, 2015.