A passionate flamenco gives this Carmen its flair

BY APOLLINAIRE SCHERR
SPECIAL TO NEWSDAY

Email this story
Printer friendly format
Carmen, the heroine of the Bizet opera, is the ultimate femme fatale: Men don't know where her heart lies or even if she has one -- which makes her irresistible. They want the mystery solved so badly they will ruin themselves pursuing it.

But in Barcelonan choreographer Ramón Oller's "Carmen," the gypsy temptress' heart shows from the start. Though familiarity with the opera may help you savor the production's subtle profundity, this dance isn't shaped like an opera. It lacks the narrative drive and does not come crashing to an end. Instead, like much dance, Oller's "Carmen" conjures its drama in the instant.

Carmen (on Wednesday, an astounding Sandrine Rouet) may use trickery to ignite potential lovers -- enlisting a whole posse of factory workers to partner her, for example, and thus drive Don José (Javier Garcia) crazy with jealousy -- but the dancing itself speaks with utter honesty. Rouet moves with a limpid lack of shame or pride. She could be in Eden.

(leer +) [vía newsday]

tags: flamenco, baile, cante, flamenca, Carmen