Word: basilios
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...public support in the wake of Argentina's April 2 invasion of the Falklands. But there were some signs last week that the junta may be looking ahead to a time when it might have to loosen its control on the government to stay in power. Brigadier General Basilio Lami Dozo, the commander of the air force and one of the three members of the junta, spoke vaguely of the need for the "participation by all sectors" in the government in the future. The junta, however, had not been talking with the leaders of Argentina's suspended political...
This week Nureyev is performing nightly with the Boston Ballet in his own production of Don Quixote. Although watching him is still a thrill, his technical shortcomings are especially conspicuous in the role of Basilio. This romantic lead requires a more blithe, more innocently carefree personality than comes naturally to Rudolf Nureyev the world-wise and world-weary. Nureyev's cockiness and arrogance overpower principal dancer Marie-Christine Mouis (who alternates the role of Kitri-Dulcinea with Laura Young): in his arms, she seems nervous, skittish, more than a trifle unsure of her suitor's affections...
...style is messy. His balance fails him at crucial instants, his turns leave him looking slightly dizzy, and--worst of all--he seems oddly disinterested in Mouis, as if he'd rather be off somewhere making his next conquest. His finest moments occur in the last act, when Basilio and Kitri-Dulcinea each perform-three dramatic, whirling solos...
...scenes with crowd entertainment, pas de deux, dream sequences, and principal solos. The only departure from traditional ballet is the augmented role of the male lead. Nureyev has complained repeatedly that classical roles afford male principals too small a role, and his Don Quixote represents and attempt to make Basilio more than what critic John Lombard calls "a forklift for ballerinas...
...technical aspects of the production also are traditionally appealing, with one major exception: Kitri-Dulcinea's and Basilio's matching flesh-colored tutu and tights. Perhaps the implications of youthful physicality would have been lost if the lovers had worn blue or green or burgundy, but certainly Nureyev and Mouis would have looked a lot better. No great matter--through: the red-and-black costumes worn by the matadors and their women in Acts I and III, and the gaudy, raggle--taggle gypsy outfits of Act II, are stylish and sportive...