Cultural Arts

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Stellar Performance by Gillian Murphy in Festival Ballet Theater’s ‘Don Quixote’

By Lydia E. Ringwald

Audiences at Festival Ballet’s performance of ‘Don Quixote’ were in awe at the power and beauty of Gillian Murphy performance of in the lead role of ‘Kitri’ this weekend at the Irvine Barclay Theater. Murphy’s exhilarating series of stunning fouette turns, her delicate elegance, exquisite precision powered by amazing sinuous and sensual muscularity elicited a spontaneous and almost uncontrollable applause.

The audience was clearly captivated as the very elegant and scintillatingly brilliant star performed some of the most difficult and intricate ballet feats performed on the Irvine Barclay Theater stage.

Donned in chic costumes with three costume changes in her role as ‘Kitri,’ Gillian Murphy charmed and delighted Festival Ballet audiences in each of the three acts of the famous ballet inspired the Cervantes novel ‘Don Quixote,’ a parody of the idealism of the aging chivalric code. 

A retinue of Festival Ballet dancers trained prominent Southland Ballet Academy formed a colorful corps de ballet supporting the lead dancers in the roles of Kitri and her consort, Basilio. ABT star Marcelo Gomes as Basilio performed a series of stag leaps and multiple mid-air spins that also generated ‘Bravos’ and ‘Encores’ from awestruck balletomanes.

Colorful support characters, Mercedes, performed by the stunning Elizabeth Chasteler, costumed in dramatic black with a violet and Kitri’s two friends, costumed in luscious Valencia orange performed by Roma Daravi and Natalie Matsuura, illuminated the stage in a lively performance that evoking the exoticism and mystery of Spain.

In the Gypsy scene, Lisa Ushino, enchanted and charmed audiences with an exotic gypsy dance with costume flourish. Festival Ballet’s uniquely designed costumes always seem to add to the ambiance of the company’s performances. In the 'Gypsy Camp' scene, Festival Ballet’s gypsy skirt design with slit and flounces on dancer Lisa Ushino seemed to magnified the dancer’s movement and enhance the drama, mystery and exoticism of the scene.

In this Season’s production of ‘Don Quixote,’ Festival Ballet Director Salwa Rizkalla again creates magic and mystery. I say ‘again’ because Salwa Rizkalla produces four major shows a year on the Irvine Barclay Theater stage, a huge commitment by one Artist to Art and Beauty in Orange County.

Rizkalla schedules her company Festival Ballet for ‘The Nutcracker’ each December, along with another storybook ballet in the spring, then offers two more productions each Season. It’s a gargantuan task but she does it to encourage and inspire her ballet students at Southland Ballet Academy and train new ballet stars for the future.

Coming soon, on Friday, May 7, watch for ‘Protégé and Stars – Invitational Dance Festival’ with a program performed by Houston Ballet II and the ‘stars of tomorrow’ at the Irvine Barclay Theater at 8 pm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y83zEYD9Tak&feature=player_embedded
 

Lydia E. Ringwald is the Laguna Journal's  Cultural Arts Columnist and photo-journalist, as well as a Southern California based artist.  Click on any of her articles below:

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