In spite of a month of bad news and a ballet that seemed jinxed, Cincinnati Ballet's Don Quixote opened on Friday with flair and no major catastrophes. It wasn't a perfect production, but it had moments of perfection.

        The most flawless bit of dancing came for Shusheng Tong (Kitri) and Nikita Shcheglov (Basilio) in their third act pas de deux, the ballet's climax. The duet celebrates the leading couple's wedding with all the traditional challenges of classical dancing — long held balances, multiple turns, huge leaps for him, small fast footwork for her — and they were up to the challenge.

        Don Quixote is very demanding for its leading dancers, and Mr. Shcheglov is more comfortable than Ms. Tong. This is his first season with Cincinnati Ballet and with his exquisite line, clean turns and commanding presence, look to see him up front often. Because Ms. Tong was injured last year, this is her first major role; a tentativeness was evident opening night. It's a role she could grow into, but with a single weekend of performances shared among three ballerinas, that's not likely to happen.

        It's the bane of midsize regional companies — ticket demand calls for one weekend of performances at the same time a company needs multiple performances to grow into big classical ballets like Don Quixote.

        The month started with Russian stars Alexei Kremnev and Anna Reznik abruptly resigning. Because major roles are double cast, their spots were filled by bringing up soloist Kristi Capps to be partnered by guest dancer Alexei Tyukov — who injured his ankle at Thursday's rehearsal. Pacific Northwest's Kaori Nakamura and Valeri Hristov were flown in to dance Saturday night's performances. Ms. Capps will be partnered by Mr. Shcheglov at today's matinee. These happenings are about as complicated as the ballet's plot.

        This has never seemed like a ballet about Don Quixote — he's merely the excuse to do a big Spanish ballet. For sure, there's Quixote chasing windmills and Sancho Panza tagging along, but the real story is the love between Kitri and Basilio. They want to be married; dad says no; the couple takes off; a chase ensues including all the main characters and of course love wins out in the end.

        As flower girls, Cheryl Sullivan's seamless fluidity and Dawn Kelly's 100-watt brilliance stood out. Choreographer Kirk Peterson gave some of his most interesting dancing to the corps de ballet — the Toreadors were flashy and the Dryads of the forest correctly underplayed. Ni Wei as Espada and Kristi Capps as Mercedes — second-tier lovers — were fun to watch. Mr. Wei wasn't given much to do until the final act, but it was worth the wait. Ms. Capps should be able to handle the technical demands when she takes on Kitri.

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