Don Quixote at PJPAC: Royal Ballet Stars in an Intimate PJ Theatre
The Dance Society of Malaysia brings the full-length classical ballet Don Quixote to Stage 1 Theatre at PJPAC, 1 Utama E, on 25 and 26 July 2026. The Friday show starts at 8.00pm, the Saturday matinee at 3.00pm. Tickets run from RM108 up to RM500 for VIP, with early-bird pricing already closed. The production stars two Royal Ballet artists alongside Malaysia's own dance talent, which is the reason this run is selling out fast.
Who is dancing the leads
The draw for serious ballet followers is the casting. Yu Hang, First Artist of The Royal Ballet in London, dances Kitri. Martin Diaz, Artist of The Royal Ballet, partners her as Basilio. Both are travelling to Kuala Lumpur for this run and are also teaching masterclasses at KL Dance Works in Jaya One and at The Fonteyn Theatre in the days before the shows, which gives local students a chance to work with Royal Ballet-level coaching.
The production is directed by Choong Wan Chin and presented by The Dance Society of Malaysia, an organisation that has been building the local ballet and contemporary dance community for decades. The Society frames the run as a chance for emerging Malaysian dancers to share a stage with international guest artists, rather than a one-off import. Seven outstanding dancers from the 13th CSTD Malaysia Dance Competition have been awarded tickets to watch, tying the production back into the local training pipeline.
What Don Quixote the ballet actually is
If you only know Cervantes' novel, the ballet is a narrower thing. The Mariinsky and Bolshoi versions follow the Kitri and Basilio love story, with the Don as a comic engine. Expect the Kitri jump in Act I, the dream sequence in the forest, the gypsy camp, and the wedding pas de deux in Act III. It is roughly two hours and 15 minutes with two intervals. The score is by Minkus. The choreography the audience will see sits in the Petipa lineage, with the lead variations considered benchmark tests for classical ballerinas.
PJPAC's Stage 1 is a small venue by international ballet standards. That works in the audience's favour here. You will be close enough to see footwork and partnering detail that gets lost in a 2,000-seat opera house. The trade-off is that the tickets at the RM298 to RM500 tiers, the ones with a clear sightline to the stage, will go first.
Practical Details
- Dates: 25 July 2026 (Friday, 8.00pm) and 26 July 2026 (Saturday, 3.00pm)
- Venue: Stage 1 Theatre, PJPAC, S611 Second Floor, 1 Utama E, Bandar Utama, 47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
- Nearest MRT: Bandar Utama (Kajang Line)
- Price: RM108, RM168, RM198, RM298, RM500 (VIP)
- Age: 5 years and above
- Duration: Approximately 2 hours 15 minutes with 2 intermissions
- Website: onetix.com.my
