Carmen
THE PIECE
Seville. 1820. The young, attractive, and fiery gypsy Carmen captivates the hearts of all men, including the naive and duty-bound soldier Don José.
Yet as quickly as their love blossoms, it withers just as fast. Carmen is a free spirit; she will not be tied down or confined and is already looking for other men. Then the dazzling torero Escamillo appears, and Carmen is head over heels. The rejected José vows revenge, and the tragic love story unfolds – filled with jealousy, eroticism, degradation, desire, death, and passion.
At the center of these turmoil is the Femme Fatale Carmen, the world-famous character that originated from Prosper Mérimée's novella of the same name from 1847. Together with the libretto written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy in 1875, it forms the basis of the opera by Georges Bizet. And his music, in turn, has brought her worldwide fame. Carmen's grand tale of love, passion, and death, enriched with Spanish ingredients such as bullfighting, toreros, and strong tempers, is predestined to inspire a dance piece by Enrique Gasa Valga.
PROSPER MÉRIMÉE: SHE LIED; SHE HAS ALWAYS LIED. I DO NOT KNOW IF THIS WOMAN EVER SPOKE A TRUE WORD IN HER LIFE. BUT WHEN SHE SPOKE LIKE THIS, I BELIEVED HER. TO RESIST ALL OF THIS, I WAS NOT STRONG ENOUGH …
Choreography Enrique Gasa Valga
