

Carlos Acosta finally got the girl — and the director's chair too.
Carlos Acosta's first venture directing one of ballet's 19th century classics was eagerly anticipated, as was his own starring role in the production (as Basilio), opposite the Argentinian Royal Ballet principal Marianella Nuñez (Kitri). Still built on Petipa's original choreography, Acosta's clear dramatic structure and vivid stage action gave the ‘boy gets girl despite her father’ story a more convincing air than usual, with Don Quixote's parallel obsession with Dulcinea-Kitri coherently woven into the plot.
Acting
Acosta and Núñez: chemistry you can't fake on pointe.
Direction
Acosta tightens Petipa's baggy narrative into actual storytelling.
Practical Effects
Real sweat, real risk, no safety net CGI.

Director
Ross MacGibbon
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Acosta was 40 when he finally danced Basilio, making this his long-delayed farewell to the role he'd always wanted.
Petipa's original 1869 Moscow production ran nearly four hours with full novel digressions; Acosta's cut restores narrative coherence without losing the madness.
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