Alternate Title Carmen / Solo for Two, Carmen/Solo for Two
Country of Origin France
Description American audiences first encountered Lyon Opera Ballet in 1987, via then-resident Belgian choreographer Maguy Marin's startling Cendrillon. A mere hint of things to come from a company whose commitment to contemporary choreography - Forsythe, Preljocaj, Bagouet, Lemon, Marshall, to name a few - has transformed France's culinary capital into a source of cultural as well as gustatory pleasure and contributed to Lyon Opera Ballet's genre-defying aesthetic of "subverted classicism."
This October in the intimate and evocative setting of the BAM Harvey Theater, the troupe brings Carmen and Solo for Two, groundbreaking Swedish choreographer Mats Ek's astute looks at love - and death. Set to Rodion Shchedrin's Bizet-based Carmen Suite, Ek's earthy and dazzling Carmen both humanizes and dramatizes the lovers' complicated relationship. The gypsy Carmen shimmers with tenacity as well as passion and, like her lover Don José, sports a gigantic cigar. Fire and smoke morph to fire and ice in Solo for Two, a scrupulously modern love duet marked by ferocious, humorous and melancholic skirmishes.
Le Figaro raved, "Solo for Two is a magnificent example of Mats Ek's style: twenty minutes of dance, invention and surprising images. Carmen is a completely different joy. Everything appears new, audacious, intense and clear… Ek dazzles us with the dramatic force of his narration delivered in a style both naïve and satirical. A very big success!"
Identifier 1999f.01033
