In anticipation of the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s (BRB) production of Don Quixote, I asked Dominic Antonucci, the company’s Assistant Director, a few questions about the ballet and his career. The company will be performing at the Birmingham Hippodrome from February 18 to February 26 before going on tour in Salford, Sunderland, and Plymouth. I am really looking forward to seeing the ballet; buy tickets to Don Quixote here!

You’ve been the company’s assistant director for nearly an exact year now; how has it been so far?

My first year as Assistant Director has been very challenging but also extremely rewarding. I have been with the Birmingham Royal Ballet for many many years and I have a deep love for this company. I want to see the Birmingham Royal Ballet succeed in every way and I am happy to be in a position where I can help it achieve that success.

Having spent so many years with the company as a dancer, I will take a chance and assume you have danced Don Quixote before – what does the ballet mean to you?

I have danced in Don Quixote before but not with the Birmingham Royal Ballet. When I was a member of American Ballet Theatre (ABT), it was a ballet that we performed a lot. I was very lucky to be onstage in Don Quixote with some of the great ballet stars of the 80s and 90s: Sylvie Guillem, Julio Bocca, Fernando Bujones. I also was a guest dancer in the Dominican Republic in Don Quixote which was my first leading role in a full-length production. That was very exciting.

What is the most challenging role in Don Quixote, both physically and artistically?

The roles of the two leading characters Kitri and Basilio are definitely the most challenging. It is a ballet for virtuoso dancers and you need to really be on your game to pull it off. Don Quixote is also a comedy and comedy is notoriously difficult to get just right. The timing and tone have to be perfect in order for the performance to be successful. In rehearsals, we work a lot on the technique of the dancing but also the intricacies of the comedic elements.

Momoko Hirata, who will be performing on February 18th, has a long history with the company. How was it working with her?

Momoko is the consummate professional. She has an incredible work ethic and commitment to excellence. Over the years I have watched her grow as an artist. She has a formidable, jaw-dropping ballet technique but now has also developed into a wonderful actress. She is a unique and very special artist.

Apart from our main couple, are there any other dancers the audience should look out for during the performance?

The supporting roles of Mercedes and Espada bring a lot of fun and flair to the production. The roles are slightly less technical than the leading parts, but they make up for that by bringing a huge amount of style and personality to the stage. Espada is a bullfighter and his dance with his fellow matadors is really exciting and enjoyable to watch. I know the dancers get a tremendous amount of pleasure from dancing those roles.

As Carlos Acosta has pointed out, Don Quixote is a happy tale; does that make working on the ballet any different than working on other tragic classics such as Romeo and Juliet or Swan Lake?

Yes. As I mentioned before, Don Quixote is a comedy and comedy is a very difficult thing to perform well. Musicality and timing become extremely important when you are trying to get the audience to laugh. The acting and mime sections need  to be perfectly clear so that the audience can follow the joke through to its conclusion and hopefully get the laugh that we are all trying to achieve. Audiences want to laugh and smile when they come to the theatre so we have to make sure that we guide them to that result.

Having trained and danced with the American Ballet Theatre (and grown up in the USA), how was moving from an American company to a European one?

It was a tremendous honour for me to dance with American Ballet Theatre and I cherish those memories. I toured around the world with ABT in the three years that I danced for them. Circumstances led me to join BRB as a Soloist dancer in 1994 which proved to be a good career move but a difficult one for me personally. It was very hard to move away from my family and friends in America. It took some time for me to adapt to the ‘British’ style of ballet but BRB has such a rich and fantastic repertoire that it was also a very enjoyable journey.

You retired over ten years ago now, which cannot have been an easy decision. Is there a specific role that has stayed special throughout the years?

In my dancing career I seemed to relish playing the ‘baddies’ more than anything else. In the works of Sir David Bintley, I was often cast in the villain roles and I loved that. In terms of the classic ballets, I would have to say that Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake was my favourite to dance; the music is so amazing and I was really fortunate to have danced with some lovely partners in that ballet.

Is there anything you would love to achieve, work on, or anyone to work with as BRB’s assistant director?

I simply want BRB to be excellent in every way. Not just in our performances but in our outreach programs, the ways in which we connect with our audiences and widen our audience base. I want our dancers to be happy and healthy and fulfilled by their work. Excellence is an all encompassing idea when I talk about it in terms of BRB. I want BRB to excellent in every possible aspect. I know that Carlos Acosta agrees with me. We want it all!

Finally, Marianela Nuñez will be coming to perform with the company next week (which is very exciting) – could you tell me a little more about this?

Marianela is an extraordinary artist and it will be such a privilege to work with her. She and Carlos have danced Don Quixote together in Carlos’ production for the Royal Opera House and they share a special connection through this ballet. Bringing in guest artist of the rare quality and standard of Marianela is great for our Birmingham audiences, but also great for the dancers in our company. So many of our dancers have told me how excited they are to witness Marianela working and to share the stage with her. I’m very excited about this and can’t wait to see her perform on the Hippodrome stage.

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