After an absence of eight years the Australian Ballet is back in town with a stunningly danced production of the ballet Carmen.
The Australian Ballet was the very first company to perform on the brand-new Canberra Theatre stage when on 25 June 1965, it presented a program consisting of Robert Helpmann’s The Display, Rex Reid’s Melbourne Cup and Act 11 of Peggy van Praagh’s Swan Lake to open the theatre. All these ballets were danced in pointe shoes.
Sixty years later, almost to the day, The Australian Ballet has returned to the Canberra Theatre to celebrate this milestone with a contemporary version of Carmen choreographed by Johan Inger, which could hardly be more different to the one presented on this stage by the company in 1973 choreographed by Roland Petit and also danced in pointe shoes.
For his version Inger subverts the classical ballet technique with movement that is gritty, aggressively modern, startingly erotic, and danced in soft shoes. To focus on the psychological aspects of the relationship between Carmen and Don Jose he employs a choreographic repertoire that is difficult to describe being at times athletic, angular, buoyant, physically demanding, sometimes beautiful, at others brutal, but always exhilarating and superbly danced by the whole company with careful attention to phrasing and detail.
Inger has set his version to a captivating arrangement of the music composed at various times for this ballet by Georges Bizet, Rodion Shchedrin and Marc Alvarez and orchestrated by Alvaro Dominguez who incorporates unexpected instrumentations and time signatures to support Inger’s dynamic choreography.
On opening night, it was thrillingly interpreted by the Canberra Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jessica Gethin following an introduction by the company’s Artistic Director, David Hallberg, making his first visit to the National Capital.
But Inger’s choreography is not the only aspect of this production which departs from the norm. For his costumes for the girls, David Delfin eschews the swirling frilled skirts associated with Spanish dance, in favour of short, cheeky ruffled skirts, some with the tops pulled down around their waists. The girls were dressed identically, but each in different colour. Carmen’s dress is the only red one, but otherwise similar to the others.
But apart from her dress, there is nothing else similar about Jill Ogai’s Carmen. Defiant, wilful, overtly sensual and completely in control, she commands the stage, taking her pick of the men and taunting her lovers, playing them off against each other.
Among them Brett Chynoweth’s Commanding Officer, Zuniga is a sinister opportunist. Jake Mangakahia’s self-obsessed Torero flaunts his rock-star glamour, but it is Callum Linnane’s insecure Don Jose who offers the predatory Carmen the most challenge. She senses he is out of his depth, but intrigued by her attraction to him, sets out to challenge him to his limit even though she also senses their relationship will end in tragedy.
All this is played out on a sparse setting consisting of a series of huge triangular prisms. These prisms offer surfaces; concrete, textured and mirrored, and manipulated into different configurations by the dancers, to be converted into a variety of locales through the lighting wizardry of Tom Visser, allowing Inger to demonstrate his remarkable aptitude for creating mood, spectacle and emotionally powerful visuals to enhance his choreography and storytelling.
The choice of Inger’s powerful thought-provoking ballet for this occasion was a particularly apt choice, because not only is it a dazzling showcase for the skill and artistry of the current dancers of The Australian Ballet, it also demonstrates the Company’s ability to tackle with confidence and panache even the most complex of concepts signalling future directions for the art of ballet.
CARMEN
Canberra Theatre – Canberra Theatre Centre, Civic Square, Canberra
Performance: Friday 20 June 2025
Season continues to 25 June 2025
Bookings: www.canberratheatrecentre.com.au
For more information, visit: www.australianballet.com.au for details.
Images: Jill Ogai as Carmen and Callum Linnane as Don Jose in Carmen – photo by Kate Longley | Jill Ogai as Carmen and Callum Linnane as Don Jose in Carmen – photo by Kate Longley | Jill Ogai as Carmen – photo by Kate Longley | Brett Chynoweth as Zuniga, Jill Ogai as Carmen and Callum Linnane as Don Jose in Carmen – photo by Kate Longley
Review: Bill Stephens OAM