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Bizet/Shchedrin - Carmen / Cullberg Ballet (Mats Ek)

Bizet/Shchedrin - Carmen / Cullberg Ballet (Mats Ek)

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Product Info Reviews

Features:
  • Color
  • Dolby


Description:

Danced here in the adaptation by the Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin, Georges Bizet's opera Carmen lasts some 50 minutes, only about one-third of the original's playing time. The Swedish Cullberg Ballet Company, choreographed by Mats Ek, is a first-rate ensemble, the women here dressed in colorful Latin-style dresses, the men in fashionable dark grey. The set is plain, with one chief ornament, a large ball that becomes the focus of some acrobatic dancing. Carmen (Ana Laguna) smokes a cigar; her José (Marc Hwang) carries the flowers. Escamillo (Yvan Auzely), dressed in traditional toreador's garb, caps them both in terms of dress, style, and movement. Ek's choreography is forged from a number of influences--the flying figures at one point suggest Bob Fosse. This production will not suit all tastes, but for those who enjoy a contemporary slant on an old story--such as Matthew Bourne offered in his modern-dress dance version The Car Man--Ek's production provides a valid alternative view. --Adrian Edwards
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