A challenging work crated back in the latter part of the 1800s, Bizet‘s Carmen continues to stir emotion, the tale of an audacious young lady stealing the heart of a respectable Don José, a soldier committed to king and country and heartlessly abandoning his side once he’s left for the battlefield for another love interest – Escamillo, a fearless matador, a tumultuous tale that gets to the very heart of lust and love, and how they interlink and manifest. Carlos Acosta‘s Acosta Danza adapting the tale to embody the vitality of the 21st century, yet still in keeping with the traditional context of the piece
Acosta crafts a dynamic work able to meander between Carmen’s coquettishness, playfulness, tumultuousness and more vulnerable moments – Carmen the focus here, a woman that would otherwise be pushed aside societally – an energy actually quite powerful within her own femininity. The production a case study as to how someone’s charm and prowess can very easily entrance and bring about the descent of someone’s being if played around with.