Dance / Carmen by The Australian Ballet. At Canberra Theatre, until June 25. Reviewed by MICHELLE POTTER.

It was something of a surprise to see, on approaching the Canberra Theatre Centre for the opening night of an Australian Ballet performance of Carmen, that the exterior walls of the building were lit red.

Red, the colour we perhaps associate with Carmen, the very dramatic leading character in the story who is invariably dressed in red. But it also set up a particular feeling that perhaps this was not going to be the Carmen we might be expecting. 

And the production, created by Swedish choreographer Johan Inger, was indeed a very different production from other versions of Carmen I have seen.

Inger’s Carmen is an updated version of the novella Carmen, written in 1845 by Prosper Mérimée. The ballet looks inside the personalities of the characters, especially the sexual feelings of the three major male characters – Don José (Callum Linnane), Torero (Jake Mangakahia) and Zúñiga (Brett Chynoweth) and their activities with women, especially Carmen (Jill Ogai).

Inger has added some characters, especially a Young Boy (Lilla Harvey) who begins as an innocent youth who follows the action throughout, but who, when shocked by the actions that have taken place, loses that innocence. 

In addition, there are characters dressed in black and wearing masks who seem to characterise Fate as they remove dead bodies and interact with characters in the ballet. 

Inger surprises with his fast, complex movements and his expressive choreography for the feet, legs, arms and hands. All recall balletic movements but they push that recall beyond expectations.

His choreography also has powerful sexual references, especially from Carmen, who often presents herself in sexually explicit ways to the men with whom she is engaging.

Musically the work is exciting to hear. While the composer is credited as Rodin Shchedrin, it includes music from Georges Bizet’s opera score with additional music from Marc Alvarez. It was played live by the Canberra Symphony Orchestra conducted by guest artist Jessica Gethin.

Carmen looked fabulous on the Canberra Theatre stage. It is a stage that has, over the years, been much maligned by certain influential staff of the Australian Ballet. 

They have consistently refused to bring the company to Canberra with a major, but not sole reason being that the stage was unsuitable. 

But for Carmen the stage space had been stripped back and set up as a kind of “black box” site, which suited the quite minimal but beautifully expressive set (Curt Allen Wilmer and Leticia Ganán). It consisted of several large pillars that were moved into a variety of positions and combinations to suggest the various settings in which the action took place. 

The oblong shape of the performing space also suited the spatial aspects of Inger’s choreography, especially for his groupings of dancers, which were often in horizontally arranged lines. 

The Australian Ballet really needs to reconsider its attitude to Canberra. “We are CBR” says the slogan with the letters C, B and R not just being an abbreviation for the name of the city but also standing for Confident, Bold and Ready. Carmen is a brilliant production, exceptionally choreographed, beautifully produced and so well danced by artists of The Australian Ballet. It so suits those who are confident, bold and ready. Don’t miss it!

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