Ballet Manila Wraps 30th Season with ‘Don Quixote’, Featuring Mariinsky’s Kimin Kim and Renata Shakirova
For Ballet Manila CEO and artistic director Lisa Macuja Elizalde, Don Quixote is more than just a ballet. It’s a touchstone of her artistic journey—one that began in Russia in 1984, when she first danced the wedding pas de deux as part of her graduation from the Vaganova Choreographic Institute in Saint Petersburg.
From Mariinsky to Manila
Macuja Elizalde became the first foreign soloist invited to join the Kirov Ballet, now known as the Mariinsky Ballet. She made her full-length debut as Kitri in Don Quixote two years later (January 6, 1986)—the start of what would become one of her signature roles.
“I debuted with Kitri in Mariinsky, so when we started performing it in Ballet Manila, I restaged the version that I learned in Mariinsky on the company and I was dancing the version that I learned with my coach the first time all throughout my career almost. Maybe I started changing a little bit of things when I started to get old,” she says, laughing.
“It is one of the most fun performances to do but also one of the hardest,” she adds. “As Kitri, you have to be full of energy and love of life for the whole three-act ballet. The role requires you to jump and turn like mad, and it also requires you to always be at the highest peak performance.”
The ballet itself tells the story of spirited Kitri and her love, Basilio, a poor barber. Kitri’s father wants her to marry the wealthy but foolish nobleman Gamache, but she refuses and runs away with Basilio. Along the way, they encounter gypsies, toreadors, and the eccentric Don Quixote himself, who mistakes Kitri for his beloved Dulcinea. After much adventure and comic mischief—including Basilio faking his death to trick Kitri’s father—the lovers are finally allowed to marry. The ballet culminates in a dazzling wedding celebration filled with bravura dancing and fiery Spanish flair.
A Dream Pairing for Ballet Manila’s 30th Year
For Ballet Manila’s milestone 30th season, Macuja-Elizalde set her sights on securing a dream pairing: Mariinsky Ballet stars Kimin Kim and Renata Shakirova, who have been dancing together for over a decade. She says Don Quixote is a personal favorite, and believes it is the same for both guest artists.
Shakirova previously danced the role of Giselle for Ballet Manila in 2024, and Macuja-Elizalde had long hoped to bring Kim as well but had encountered scheduling conflicts. “When Kimin became available, I said: ‘Great! We’re going to have the Don Quixote that I’ve always dreamed of,’” she recalls. “In Russia, they call it a korolevsky spektakl—a ‘king ballet.’ It’s the ballet that best represents them as dancers and as artists. There can be many king ballets in a dancer’s career, but there usually is one that you know you’re so confident you can dance really well, and I think for them, it’s Don Quixote. So Manila and audiences from all over the world are coming to watch Don Quixote, and they’re really in for a treat.”
Renata Shakirova and Kimin Kim on Dancing Don Quixote
Shakirova shares a similar connection to the ballet with Macuja-Elizalde. Her first role at the Mariinsky Ballet was also Kitri, which she danced opposite Kim as Basilio on October 13, 2015. They have been frequent partners ever since.
“Kitri, I dance every year, and it’s really good,” Shakirova says. “I feel this part. I feel Kitri. Now, I think we can rehearse just a few times because we’ve been together and we’ve had really good communication. I love this role because Kitri is such a bright role. It’s such a positive, happy ballet that definitely, if you’re a first timer [watching a ballet], you will come watch it and enjoy.”
For Kim, who is renowned as the first-ever foreign male principal dancer of the Mariinsky, Don Quixote also marked a turning point in his career.
“Actually, my first Don Quixote was in Korea when I was 17 years old,” he recalls. “It was a very interesting project because every university in Korea gave a group of dancers, and from all of these different groups of dancers, we did a full-length Don Quixote.”
At university, he also danced full-length productions of Swan Lake and La Bayadere. It was video footage of these three ballets that he submitted to the Mariinsky Ballet, which ultimately secured him a place in the company.
“Don Quixote is really meaningful for me because Don Quixote opened the doors. I’m really happy that in the Philippines, [with] Ballet Manila I [can] dance Don Quixote because Don Quixote with Renata is the most confident, the most comfortable [that I can be as a dancer].
Because they know each other’s movements so well, Kim says sometimes it is better not to rehearse too much, leaving room for spontaneity and sincerity. Macuja-Elizalde says, “Sometimes it feels like a friendly competition between the two of them: who can do the most turns, who can do the same thing sharper or faster. It’s a very playful teasing that you get between the two of them on stage.”
When asked how frequently they’ve danced this ballet together, Kim notes that it varies over the years, but at one point, they were performing it nearly once a month. “In Mariinsky Theater, it’s a very different system. We can dance Swan Lake today, tomorrow Giselle, the day after Don Quixote,” he explains. “It’s a very different system where we are cast accordingly to dance.”
This September, Kim and Shakirova are scheduled to open the Mariinsky season with La Bayadere. Shakirova will then go on tour, after which the pair will reunite for Romeo and Juliet, a contemporary ballet called Miracle of Mandarin, and possibly Don Quixote again by the end of the month.
A Signature Ballet in Ballet Manila’s Repertoire
Don Quixote has also been a Ballet Manila staple. With its upcoming three performances, Macuja-Elizalde shares that the company will have staged the ballet nearly 80 times over its 30-year history. Most recently, in 2023, Ballet Manila performed it with guest artist Esteban Hernandez of the San Francisco Ballet as Basilio opposite company principal Jasmine Pia Dames as Kitri.
“It’s a very happy ballet. I love Don Quixote. I can watch it over and over again,” says Macuja-Elizalde. “It can really convert anybody from any age to love the ballet. It’s one bravura number after another. We call Don Quixote a clap-trapper of a ballet. The audience is always clapping after every variation, after every performance of a group dance, because it’s such a fiery, happy celebration on stage.”
Looking Ahead: Ballet Manila and Mariinsky Ties
After 30 years of performing, Ballet Manila is now the largest classical ballet company in the Philippines. “We have the most number of performances and we have a slew of classical, neo-classical, and Filipino ballets in our repertoire,” Macuja-Elizalde notes. “We are 42 professional dancers strong in our company, celebrating 30 years with The Pearl Gala, Swan Lake, and now Don Quixote.”
As for Ballet Manila’s ties with the Mariinsky, Macuja-Elizalde hopes their exchange will continue. “Mariinsky Ballet is really close to my heart. It was like a second home. It was the first company I ever joined after I graduated from the school. Of course Ballet Manila, the Philippines, will always be my first home. But now, I find myself very familiar with the teachers, the choreographers, the rehearsal masters and mistresses because they’re like my colleagues. And of course we all went to the same school. So it’s a partnership that I think is going to continue. There’s already that constant exchange and constant ties with Mariinsky, so I will really want that to continue.”
Don Quixote runs at the Aliw Theater for three performances only: August 22 at 8 PM., and August 23 and 24 at 5 PM. Tickets are priced at P2,060 (Center) and P1,030 (Sides), available via Ticketworld.
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