Carmen by the Orlando Ballet Company is stupendous. From the opening in which Carmen and her two lovers dance, to the closing number in Act II, (that is a blow-away ending) the production is a very fast paced ballet and once again is a brilliantly choreographed spectacle that held the audience’s attention all the way through.
Unlike other productions I’ve seen, this one is a tragic tale of love and death. The story deals with Carmen, a beautiful gypsy girl, who entices two men to be her lover. One is a solider while the other is a bullfighter. She is careful to keep them separate and does so for much of the production. In one of the numbers a rival gypsy woman fights Carmen with a knife. One of her lovers is there to protect her from her attacker. The struggle is a violent confrontation between two beautiful women fighting over the same man. I was also surprised that I got a lot of the symbolism in the production, because in college I never saw any of it in the required literature classes.
One thing I noticed this time is that there were several children portraying different characters. This is the first time I’ve seen these particular dancers and their performance, like their adult counterparts, was nothing short of spectacular. Also the costumes were stunning combinations of black and gold for the bullfighter dancers, while Carmen’s black and red mixture was ravishing. Other costumes were simply dazzling in their richness of color. Watching the dancers move around with the full company on stage was a remarkable eye-catching blend of dance and color.
The music from the opera Carmen also set a pace and tone to the production that complemented what was taking place on stage. The lighting, backdrops, and scenery were all spectacular and added different dimensions to the whole feel of the ballet.
I was fortunate to see Katia Garza play Carmen in the performance Saturday, while Chiaki Yasukawa plays it in both the Friday evening and Sunday Matinee. I spoke to several people who have seen both performers play the role with no noticeable differences. That is also the case with the role of Don Jose played by Brandon Nguyen Friday and Sunday Matinee while Denes Darab played the role on Saturday. Again there is nothing different in their portrayals. That is the beauty of this production that went off flawlessly.
I sat mesmerized like I do when I watch a blue ray disc for the spectacular quality of the picture. This had that same effect, possibly because this time I was only seven rows back from the stage.
I was most pleased that the company asked the audience to turn off all cell phones which this time they did. Throughout the entire production I did not see any phones in use.
Once again I have to applaud Robert Hill for another brilliantly choreographed creation. We, in Orlando, are so fortunate to have this man as the head of the company and its world-wide talented dancers. I am also amazed how flawlessly the dancers performed this ballet with only about a month’s preparation time. They are truly remarkable. I congratulate them, as well, for being the spectacular company that they are.
