As Ballet Manila prepares to bring back Don Quixote in May – the second offering in its 25th performance season – we share assorted trivia about the beloved classic, tidbits from the company’s past performances and artistic director Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s long history with it, along with select photographs from the Ballet Manila Archives. The series is a celebration of this happy ballet, a showcase for the bravura Spanish-inspired style featuring show-stopping technical feats by the ballerina and her danseur in the lead roles of Kitri and Basilio.

Quick study. Lisa Macuja-Elizalde and Osias Barroso first performed as Kitri and Basilio in Krasnoyarsk, Russia in 1992. They had rehearsed a different ballet for a festival but due to a last-minute program change, they were asked to dance Don Quixote instead. Barroso only had four days to learn and rehearse the part, but he did it! After that, the pair went on to perform Don Quixote in full-length and in pas de deux numerous times abroad and in the Philippines, and as the lead dancers of Ballet Manila.

Top photo: Lisa Macuja-Elizalde and Osias Barroso’s partnership as Kitri and Basilio in Don Quixote began in the 1990s when they danced it in a string of festivals. Photo from the Ballet Manila Archives collection