DON QUIXOTE
Aka ‘The Impossible Dream’
A film adaptation of the Ludwig Minkus ballet, completely re-orchestrated and with additional music by John Lanchbery.
Aka ‘The Impossible Dream’
Filmed in 1973 in an airport hangar in 40 degrees over 25 days, Rudolf Nureyev and Sir Robert Helpmann, along with The Australian Ballet created ‘Don Quixote,’ the film.
With cinematography by Geoffrey Unsworth (Stanley Kubrick's ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ and Bob Fosse's ‘Cabaret’), the film has been acclaimed worldwide as the best dance film ever made! To celebrate the 50th anniversary, for the first time cinema audiences around the world will be able to enjoy the re-mastered, restored and re-orchestrated film. Nureyev, regarded as the greatest male ballet dancer of all time was at the peak of his career when this film was made.
The conducting has authority and a sense of pulse, keeping things alive on stage while not rushing things through. The choreography syncs very well with the music, as always with Rudolf Nureyev,
it is highly musical, has many recognisable steps and has a real elegance to it. Nureyev is definitely the performer you will remember most, he is so charismatic and expressive and dances so gracefully and powerfully. Robert Helpmann is very dignified in the title role and Lucette Aldous is a very charming and elegantly Kitri, a really nice surprise. For Nureyev and ballet fans this Quixote is a gem.
