Carmen

Lead Donor of the GNO & Production donor

The Greek National Opera Ballet would like to announce its third production for the 2022/23 Season: a new production of the ballet Carmen, choreographed by the great Swedish choreographer Johan Inger and first presented by the Compañía Nacional de Danza, Madrid in 2015. On for four performances –18, 19, 20, 21 May 2023– inside the Stavros Niarchos Hall of the GNO at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, and conducted by Ektoras Tartanis. This production is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) to enhance the GNO’s artistic outreach.

Acclaimed dancer and choreographer Johan Inger –who has carved himself a long and exceptionally successful career, both at Nederlands Dans Theater and at other major European dance companies– created the ballet Carmen for the Compañía Nacional de Danza, where it proved highly popular. Inger took on the challenge and the opportunity of creating a new choreography for Bizet’s heroine –considered a symbol of love and freedom– and his prime concern was to offer up a new take on this famous story. To this end, he decided to focus on the issue of violence, approaching it through the eyes of a child. From this viewpoint, Inger invites audiences to watch the action through a filter of innocence.

The choreographer himself notes: “My Carmen is not only based on the female protagonist of the story; like Mérimée’s original, my ballet also focuses on Don José’s love sickness – on a man who, unable to accept the freedom of his beloved, sets forth on a path down to hell, driven by his primal instincts: passion and revenge. There is an element of mystery in this character: it could be a child, it could be Don José. It could even be us, with our primeval goodness lacerated by the experience of violence, which, though short-lived, may have negatively influenced our lives and our ability to relate to others forever.”

In this choreography by Inger, the ballet version of the Carmen story by Rodion Shchedrin – Georges Bizet enters into dialogue with music written by Marc Álvarez. Featuring dramaturgy by Gregor Acuña-Pohl, sets by Curt Allen Wilmer and Leticia Gañán, costumes by David Delfín, and lighting by Tom Visser. The Greek National Opera Orchestra is conducted by the maestro Ektoras Tartanis. With the Principal Dancers, Soloists, Demi-Soloists, and Corps de ballet of the Greek National Opera.