abatt Posted October 3, 2023 Share Posted October 3, 2023 If anyone attends Angel Corella's Carmen, which premieres this week, I would be very interested in reading your impressionsl of the ballet. Link to comment
netrina Posted October 9, 2023 Share Posted October 9, 2023 I did! I saw the opening night cast of Nayara Lopez/Arian Molina Soca/Jack Thomas and then the cast of Mayara Pineiro/Ashton Roxander/Pau Pujol. I'm no ballet expert so I can't talk too specifically about the nuts and bolts of the choreography but I overall really enjoyed the production. It's fairly short, ~80 minutes including the intermission which kept the pace and energy up. I was most impressed by the pas de deux and pas de troix choreography, really dynamic and interesting lifts. There also seemed to be some inspiration drawn from contemporary dance to varying degrees of success IMO. The other highlights were the Escamillo solo (shades of Don Q) and the dance with Don Jose and the bandits, which the crowd absolutely loved. I did find myself wishing there was more dancing for the non-Carmen women, as even the "featured" roles had little to do. Though the Spring show is Giselle, so perhaps this was just trying to even things out I really enjoyed the performances as well; Ashton Roxander has the it factor and is the highlight in everything I've seen him in. Nayara and Mayara both fit Carmen so well and are so technically secure it let the performance and expression shine. Would be interested to hear other thoughts from anyone else who's seen it! Overall well worth the night(s) out for me. Link to comment
abatt Posted October 9, 2023 Author Share Posted October 9, 2023 Thanks for your comments. I'm glad Corella created something worthwhile. Link to comment
BalletFan Posted October 11, 2023 Share Posted October 11, 2023 (edited) I traveled from NYC to see this and really enjoyed it. Oh... the passion and energy of this ballet--just amazing! I especially loved the incredible lifts--many that I've never seen before in ballet. The story is told in a flashback. The first scene is Don Jose sitting in a jail cell, remembering how he got there. I just wish the performance had been longer. The running time is only 1 hour and 15 mins (including one intermission), which I found kind of disappointing. Nonetheless, the ballet is beautifully choreographed and danced. The cast I saw included Oksana Maslova as Carmen, Zecheng Liang as Don Jose and Isaac Hollis as Escamillo. Everyone was great, but Zecheng Liang really stood out to me. What a talented dancer with a nice stage presence. I really like what Angel Corella has done with the company and became a subscriber this year. I live too far away to see this again this time around, but hopefully, Carmen will remain in the company's repertoire. Edited October 11, 2023 by BalletFan Link to comment
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