Writer: Georges Bizet
Director: Carlos Acosta
A dramatic black background with a large, flame-red circular outline is the backdrop to London’s latest dynamic interpretation of Bizet’s classic opera, Carmen. Inside the circle, through which the dancers can step in and out, are Nina Dunn’s dreamy projections of clouds, moody skies, and the striking silhouette of a man bull, who struts in silence and controls the players like a puppeteer with marionettes. The man bull, who represents destiny, is the charismatic, Havana-born artistic director and choreographer, Carlos Acosta.
At 18, he was the English National Ballet’s youngest-ever principal dancer but retired from dancing in 2016, a year after forming his company of talented Cuban dancers, Acosta Danza. Since 2020, he’s been the director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, but Carmen has never been far from his mind, something like unfinished business that he would have to return to.
Part of Sadler’s Wells Ballet with Attitude programme and brought to life by his Acosta Danza, who are also Sadler’s Wells International Associate Company, this interpretation is drenched in sensuality, mischief, and emotion. Beguiling gipsy Carmen, played by Laura Rodriguez, is a bewitching, sensual flame, small in stature but large in life – and love. Envied by women, she has one man after another balletically throwing themselves at her feet. She literally ties men in knots, a scintillating lady spider who draws men into her thrall.
Soldier, Don José, (Alejandro Silva) lost to her charms and offers her all he has which she happily takes. But when her head is turned by Escamillo ( Enrique Corrales), a smooth-skinned dashing toreador in pink tights and sparkling bolero, tragedy is written in the stars. Bull man has it all mapped out.
One danger of any production with an interval is that the second half never matches the energy of the first. This is not the case here and the drama builds into a crescendo. The fantastic opening scene of the second half features all the dancers and is a stunning corps de ballet, a Bob Fosse-inspired routine that takes place in a bar where Carmen and Escamillo meet.
Stylish, sexy and smouldering, Tim Hatley’s costumes make great use of lingerie to reinforce the entire spirit of the piece, classic and contemporary. Cheeky stripteases are slotted into routines and the audience is never far from a black lacy bra or pair of strapping underpants. This is a story about the power of the forbidden, the eternal life force and the joy and the danger it brings. Besides several instantly recognisable Carmen melodies including the Toreador Song and Carmen’s Habanera, additional music from Martin Yates, Yhovani Duarte and Denis Peralta, arranged by Rodión Shchedrin, span the swooning and orchestral to syncopated Cuban rhythms and flamenco.
This story of beauty, love, passion, and revenge has been tackled by many over the last 180 years, from Charlie Chaplin, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Peter Brook, and Jean-Luc Goddard. This is a bold and energetic adaptation, with a striking and cohesive design by Hatley, echoed by Peter Mumford’s lighting. It looks beautiful to the eye and engages all the senses, but one always sighs when it’s the woman who must pay. Despite the fact it takes two to tango, merengue or make love, why does the toreador get off scot-free, left to run amok in some other woman’s heart or underskirts while the woman is punished? For lovers of Bizet, tragic love stories and the magical storytelling of dance, this is a show not to be missed.
Runs until 6 July 2024
