Don Quixote ( /ˌdɒn kiːˈhoʊtiː/; Spanish: [ˈdoŋ kiˈxote] ( listen)), fully titled The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha (Spanish: El ingenioso hidalgo don Quixote de la Mancha), is a novel written by Miguel de Cervantes. The novel follows the adventures of Alonso Quijano, who reads too many chivalric novels, and sets out to revive chivalry under the name of Don Quixote. He recruits a simple farmer, Sancho Panza, as his squire, who frequently deals with Don Quixote's rhetorical orations on antiquated knighthood with a unique Earthy wit. He is met by the world as it is, initiating themes like Intertextuality, Realism, Metatheatre and Literary Representation.
Published in two volumes a decade apart, in 1605 and 1615, Don Quixote is considered the most influential work of literature from the Spanish Golden Age and the entire Spanish literary canon. As a founding work of modern Western literature, and one of the earliest canonical novels, it regularly appears high on lists of the greatest works of fiction ever published. In one such list, Don Quixote was cited as the "best literary work ever written".
Natalia Petrovna Osipova (Russian: Наталья Петровна Осипова) (born 18 May 1986 in Moscow, Russia) is an Russian ballet dancer currently performing with the Mikhailovsky Theater in St. Petersburg. Prior to dancing with the Mikhailovsky, Osipova danced with the Bolshoi Ballet. She cited "artistic freedom" as her reason for leaving.
From 1996 to 2004 she trained at the Moscow State Academy of Choreography where she studied with Marina Kotova and Marina Leonova. Upon graduation from the Academy, she was hired by the Bolshoi Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet. In 2005, she danced the part of Kitri in Alexei Fadeyechev's production of Don Quixote to much critical acclaim After this solo debut she danced many more soloist parts, including the title role in the premiere of Johan Kobborg's production of La Sylphide. She was named one of "25 to Watch" by Dance Magazine in 2007. In 2009, she received the Prix Benois de la Danse.
In May 2010, Osipova was promoted to a principal dancer after a performance of Don Quixote. In June 2010, she joined American Ballet Theatre for their Metropolitan Opera House season. She danced Don Quixote, with José Manuel Carreño, Sleeping Beauty and Romeo and Juliet with David Hallberg. A week before her performance in The Sleeping Beauty, Osipova was mugged outside the MET. She suffered minor bruises, lost only a pair of pointe shoes and a small hammer used to shape them, but was fine other than that and was still able to perform.
Ivan Vasiliev (born 1989) is a Russian ballet dancer currently performing with the Mikhaylovsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, since December 2011. He was previously a principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet.
Born in Vladivostok, he graduated from the Belorussian Ballet School and won first prize at the Moscow International Ballet Competition in 2005. In 2006 he won the Grand Prix of the Varna International Ballet Competition and first prize at the Arabesque-96 Ballet Competition in Perm (where he also won the Korea Ballet Foundation Prize for Best Dancer).
Vasiliev joined the Bolshoi Ballet in 2006. Vasiliev was promoted to the rank of principal with fellow dancer and fiancee Natalia Osipova after a performance of Don Quixote, the ballet he premiered with, in May 2010. Vasiliev and Osipova left the Bolshoi in 2011 when they both moved to the Mikhailovsky Theater.
His repertoire includes Basil (Don Quixote), the title role in Spartacus, Solor and the Golden Idol (La Bayadère), Conrad (Le Corsaire) Philippe (Flames of Paris), Acteon (La Esmeralda) and Misericordes.
Kelly Rowland (born Kelendria Trene Rowland on February 11, 1981) is an American recording artist, songwriter, dancer, actress and television personality. Born in Atlanta, Georgia and raised in Houston, Texas, Rowland rose to fame as one of the founding members of the American R&B girl group Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time.
During the hiatus of Destiny's Child, Rowland released her debut solo album Simply Deep in 2002, which contained influences of alternative-R&B and rock music. It included her joint worldwide number-one single "Dilemma" with rapper Nelly, and the international top-ten hit "Stole". Following the group's disbandment in 2005, Rowland released her second solo effort Ms. Kelly in 2007 and despite being less successful than its predecessor, it included the international hit singles "Like This" and "Work". In 2009, Rowland scored her second worldwide number-one hit with French DJ David Guetta, on his single "When Love Takes Over". Her third solo album Here I Am was released in 2011 and included the UK top-ten hits "Commander" and "Down for Whatever", as well as the US R&B number-one "Motivation".