Venue
Venue
These young dancers were so fantastic! They put on one of the best renditions of Don Quijote I have seen. Such enthusiasm and the hard work they put in shined through. Highly recommend this production!!
Great and lively performance! Just a mix of possible adventures for Don Quixote and Sancho Panza! Music was phenomenal also!
The dancing was mesmerizing and the costumes lovely. What a great afternoon!
My family loved the whole production. The parts were presented well. You could tell these were professionals. They helped to transport you into the story.
It was an incredible experience, sat front row! 86 total performers between the dancers and the orchestra!
As always the ALABAMA Ballet company of dancers were excellent. The venue is great as there is not a bad seat in the house. As a person with mobility issues the stairs down from street level to the concert hall are a bit much. I am sure there must be a elevator or ramp that does not require you walk half way around the world to avoid these, but I have not located it yet nor seen any signage. Don Quixote was not my favorite performance and I gave it 4 stars for one reason alone, the narrative was not easily discernable. This production was clearly created on the assumption that you were VERY familiar with the story and characters of Don Quixote. I remember reading it back in high school but at my age that is roughly a million books ago and my inner filing system has been removing non essential material from oldest to newest at an alarming rate. And yes I was given a program, but holding a mixed drink in one hand while trying to hold my phone flashlight and hold the program close enough to my face to read it proved to be an impossible feat. SO the synopsis of the performance I saw was: A gang of (exceptionally talented) kids are having a dance off in the streets of a Mediterranean city, and one of the girls falls in love with one of the boys after just one dance! Her father however is not having it when he discovers the young man has no money. The father then tries to set the girl up with a wealth man, but it seems the only love match for the wealthy man is a love triangle between him the father and the wine. Then a old guy in armor and his squire show up and wander around in the middle of everyone trying to dance until he also falls in love with the wine. Then the Girl and her guy try to run away together but can not seem to resist a dance off, which hampers the escape. While participating in a dance off at a gypsy tavern the father, wealthy man, and old armored guy find them. But luckily after the father witness the superb dancing the young man preforms, which did include a faked death, the relents and agrees to the marriage. One last dance off just for kicks. The end
The ballet was excellent in every way: beautiful, charming, funny, and fantastical! I loved every moment!
We are very fortunate that Birmingham/Alabama has a ballet company of such high caliber. The performance of ASO and Alabama Ballet was flawless! The quality of the cast reflects Birmingham's progression into a major city for the arts!
I was expecting much more pageantry, exquisite sets and costumes, live orchestra and a playbill. What I got was 2 sets of air-brushed canvas curtains in lieu of professional sets, spandex leotard/costumes with glued-on glitter and plastic rhinestones, piped-in pre-recorded music which sounded tinny and absolutely no program of any sort. The performance started 15 minutes late with the 1st half lasting about 40 minutes...a 20 minute intermission and about 25 minutes of dancing until the curtain fell. Not at all what I expected. Never again.
The dancers were amazing! They are both artists and athletes, and it was a joy to see them perform.
