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Their latest version is not a particularly good one. Alonso's intentions were admirable - to find a stonger story-line than usual and especially to emphasise the importance of Don Quixote himself - but as so often, what reads well in the programme notes doesn't come over on the stage. When the Cubans themselves played this in London a couple of seasons ago the general opinion was that it was a disappointing affair redeemed by some astonishingly brilliant dancing. The Danes just can't match them at that level (I doubt anyone else could, either, except for the Bolshoi of course) but there's a lot of interest, and considerable pleasure, to be found in watching a company try to find its own solution, which in this case seems to be to turn into a demi caractere ballet rather than a purely classical one.

On the plus side, the ballet looks far better in Worsaae's designs than it did in the Cuban version, which has undistinguished decor and costumes even when you allow for that company's lack of money to spruce them up occasionally. A few changes have been made, I believe, to Worsaae's original costumes but the only one I could be sure of was the substitution of long tutus for short ones in the dream scene. His colour palette is less vivid than in most of the productions I've seen - a touch of northern coolness to temper the Spanish heat - and the women's costumes are really very pretty.

As far as the actual performance is concerned, one thing that really surprised me was that the character roles seemed very subdued, even underplayed. I'd expected the company's famous mimes would really have gone to town here, but even Poul-Erik Hesselkilde as Gamache was a foolish old man rather than a big comedy number. On the other hand the entrance of the Toreadors - one of my favourite moments - had just the right dash and arrogance, with six of the company's best young men catching the mood perfectly. A seventh, Sebastian Klobborg, danced Espada - slim and elegant but so far missing the sublime arrogance the role needs. His girl friend, Mercedes, was Gudrun Bojesen, very glamorous in a beautiful dress and much more outgoing than I've seen her before. In the dream scene Rebecca Labbé danced a nice Amor, mercifully avoiding cuteness and blessed with quite the prettiest costume I've ever seen for this role. Kizzy Howard, who's been given some big opportunities this season, was the Queen of the Dryads: she's not got quite enough technique for her big solo at present but she does have real quality - in a little sequence with Don Quixote she looked for a few moments like a genuine ballerina.

Thomas Lund seemed to me rather unexpected casting for Basil: his talents and the requirements of the role didn't seem a very good match. He doesn't do boyish charm any more and is developing a more grown up characterisation which could turn out well, but unfortunately he injured his hand in the first act and presumably had to put most of his effort after that into just getting through the partnering. The entree to the big pas de deux had to be cut altogether, so although his solo was elegantly done, the last act fell a bit flat. It must have been a difficult evening for Lund's Kitri, Tina Højlund, as well. She too isn't the most obvious choice for her role, but the approach she's worked out - an older, more self-aware girl than the usual teenage flirt - works well in this context and I'd like to see her again on a more fortunate evening.