BalletMet Columbus.

Ohio Theatre Columbus, Ohio April 10-13, 2003

BalletMet Columbus capped its twenty-fifth-anniversary season with Australian choreographer Stanton Welch's delightful version of Don Quixote. The production was the first full-length ballet Welch created in America and the first work he choreographed for the Ohio company, which he joined last year as artistic associate. The twenty-seven-member troupe has previously performed story ballets tailored for the dancers by Artistic Director Gerard Charles and his predecessor, David Nixon. But Welch challenged the ensemble to rise to the demands of the bravura Russian style.

The choreographer maintained the celebratory pas de deux, Kitri's signature jete, and other traditional elements of Petipa's choreography, but he added contemporary moves and reconceived the story. To supplement the original Minkus score, he came up with tuneful music written by an anonymous composer for a Bulgarian production of Don Quixote. Loosely basing his scenario on Cervantes's tale, Welch used a prologue to introduce the aging knight, veteran actor Phillip S. Wilson, rehearsing a role in a play. Too weak to hold his sword, he collapsed and dreamed of his youthful encounter with a beautiful queen. Here Welch indulged in broad comedy, suggesting he might give the ballet a cartoon treatment. But once the dancing began, he got serious

In a dream, the don imagined himself as a young man declaring his love to Dulcinea. But he ran away after being knighted by her husband, and she was kidnapped by an evil emperor. When the don awakened, he began searching for her. In Act I, he was reminded of his love by Kitri, who had fun flirting in showy balletic terms with her boyfriend, the penniless barber Basilio. But Kitri's father wanted her to marry the wealthy fop Gamarche. In the opening-night cast, Hiromi Ushimo and Daryl Brandwood struck sparks as the dynamic Kitri and her lovable boyfriend; Carrie West and Jimmy Orante danced like a dream as Dulcinea and the young don; Hisham Omardien, Reid Bartelme and Tracy, Thayer brought an irresistible sense of fun to their respective roles as Kitri's father, Camarche, and his mother.

Welch's choreography unfolded naturally on the flow of the romantic music. In the second act, he departed from tradition with nonclassical movement and magical theatricality. BASILIO AND KITRI DANCED A PASSIONATE CONTEMPORATY PAS DE DEUX IN THE FOREST WHERE THEY WERE CAPTURED BY A BAND OF GYPSIES, WHOSE SEXY WOMEN UNDULATED THEIR TORSOS AND FLOUNCED THEIR RUFFLED SKIRTS. When the don arrived and had his fortune told, he again fantasized his romance with Dulcinea. But the queen killed herself to avoid marrying the evil emperor, and was lifted to heaven in a beautiful divertissement for a corps of angels. In the final act, all conflicts were neatly resolved.

Despite a modest $124,000 budget, Welch's concept was effectively mounted with colorful costumes by Holly Hynes, minimal sets by Dan Gray, evocative lighting by David Grill, and live accompaniment by the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, directed by Gary Sheldon. Welch will enjoy the luxury of a larger company with greater financial resources when he becomes artistic director of Houston Ballet this summer. But in Columbus, where he will continue for two more seasons, he demonstrated his ability to produce a small-scale story ballet with wit, energy, and audience appeal.