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Carmen.TV

music by Georges Bizetballet in two series
Duration
1:15 (50 min + 25 min)
Acts
2
Intermission
1
Age
12+
Staging
Radu Poklitaru — Honoured Arts Figure of Ukraine

The premiere of the production took place on October 25 2006

Recognition & awards

  • In March 2006 the production was honored with “Kyiv Pectoral” prize in two nominations: “the best production of the year” and “the best work of the choreographer”

The first performance of the theater won two "Kyiv Pectorals" six months after it was opened - for the best performance of the year and the best work of the ballet-master. Radu Poklitaru attributed the same qualities to Carmen as Prosper Merimee had once done. For this purpose, the sequence of the acts in Georges Bizet opera was changed. So artists dance but you may always be tempted to join in a song.

In this performance, Carmen is the personage of the television film in which the things take their own course - the jaw-dropping fight of the women, the first murder, the arrest, the choice of Carmen Jose as her savior, the temptation, the escape, the unrequited love, the death prediction, the notable rival, the agonizing jealousy… However, the events in the television film are directly influenced by the surprising personage of the performance, the girl watching TV.

Who is she? Why is she governing the lives of others? It turns out she needs Jose, she has been waiting for him and here he is with her. Indeed, the main character of Bizet opera had a fiancée named Michaela, and he rejected her. But Radu Poklitaru conveyed the true power of the personage who no longer wanted taking back seat. Or he proved that the 2 series of the television film may translate into reality if we believe in it.

Premiered on the stage on October 25, 2006

About the show

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

 

Radu Poklitaru

"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!"

 

Video

Carmen.TV

Carmen.TV

Photo galleries

Press about the production

3 September 2024 · IMPROVISATOR "Carmen.TV" – A Fresh Take on an Old Tale

A woman's imagination is a powerful thing! You wouldn't believe what it's capable of. The performance "Carmen TV" is an impressive season opener for Kyiv Modern-Ballet.

Read more

 

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