"Carmen.TV" is the first production of «KYIV MODERN-BALLET» Theatre. Why, actually, Carmen? The history of the European theatre does not know many mythologemes as popular as this one. Mérimée, who wrote the short novel about a Seville gypsy, could hardly ever realize that in the 21st century there would be a human being in the whole Western cultural world, who has never heard of Carmen. Georges Bizet in his immortal opera tremendously romanticized her image - Mérimée's gypsy is in fact a lot simpler and more prosaic.
Besides the tough story by Prosper Mérimée, Georges Bizet's music made the basis of our production. One of the leading characters of the ballet is Michaela, who lost the status of Jose's fiancée, but who became the moving force of the stage action. Her presence on the stage gives the explanation for the two letters "TV" in the title of the play and its format - the two-episode ballet. The words I have put into Michaela's mouth are the only fragment I found appropriate to fit in the leaflet of the play: "When there is nobody beside, love overwhelms me and makes me see, desire, and kill the non-existing characters of the never-filmed movies. The screen flicker talks to me in the language of passion. Am I lonely?... No!"
The generally known story of the Gypsy girl, the heroine of Prosper Mérimée's short novel, has found a new and unexpected interpretation in this ballet.
The innovation choreography of Radu Poklitaru filled the stage existence of the characters with poignant intonations of today, preserving, at the same time, the charming atmosphere of the XIX century Spain, while the great music of the opera "Carmen" helped create an absolutely new production, with the spirit of Georges Bizet never violated.
The scenery and costumes designed by the renowned theatrical artists Andrey Zlobin and Anna Ipatieva fill the stage space with the vibrating rhythms of the XXI century interwoven into the atmosphere of old Spain.
The ballet "Carmen.TV" was presented on tours in a number of cities and towns of Ukraine, as well as in Rumania, Moldova and the Netherlands.
Premiered on the stage on October 25, 2006
--
