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
Marianela Núñez
Kitri
Carlos Acosta
Basilio
Christopher Saunders
Don Quixote
Philip Mosley
Sancho Panza
Ryoichi Hirano
Espada
Laura Morera
Mercedes
Bennet Gartside
Gamache
Gary Avis
Lorenzo
Melissa Hamilton
Queen of the Dryads
Elizabeth Harrod
Amour
Christina Arestis
Dulcinea
Yuhui Choe
Kitri's friend
Beatriz Stix-Brunell
Kitri's friend
Valeri Hristov
Matador
Johannes Stepanek
Matador
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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