Dance of the Matadors, Don Quixote (The Royal Ballet)

Ryoichi Hirano as Espada and Laura Morera as Mercedes perform Dance of the Matadors with members of The Royal Ballet in Carlos Acosta’s production of Don Quixote. Find out more at Carlos Acosta, Principal Guest Artist of The Royal Ballet, created his first work for the Company in 2013. He chose one of his favourite ballets – Marius Petipa’s Don Quixote, a joyful adaptation of Miguel de Cervantes’s classic novel. Acosta’s production has proved itself a firm audience favourite, acclaimed for its breathtakingly virtuoso dancing, eye-popping designs by Tim Hatley and the sheer energy and exuberance of the production as a whole. The adventures of the bumbling knight Don Quixote and his ever-faithful squire Sancho Panza have been the inspiration for countless ballets, of which Petipa’s is one of the best loved. Acosta has danced the virtuoso role of Basilio many times, and brings that experience to his unique and vibrant vision of the story. Ludwig Minkus’s score, created for Petipa, is full of Spanish flair and atmosphere. Don Quixote, with its famously bravura Act III pas de deux and infectious ebullience, is wonderfully entertaining.