Venezuelan born Tina Ramirez founded Ballet Hispánico in 1970. The Company has been lauded across the world, with its broad repertoire and a troupe of 15 excellent dancers. It is a puzzle therefore, that its invitation to Let’s Dance International Frontiers 2025 (LDIF) is only the second time the Company has danced on English soil, and on both occasions it’s been at the Leicester Curve.
The LDIF is worth discovering in itself. Now in its 15th year, it hosts 12 different countries, an array of UK and world premieres, numerous dance masterclasses and discussions galore.
It seemed appropriate that Ballet Hispánico chose to bring Gustavo Ramírez Sansano’s production of CARMEN.maquia to the stage since it is 150 years since the opera Carmen was premiered and also marks the anniversary of Georges Bizet’s death. He died after the 33rd performance, unaware that it would become universally acclaimed both as an opera and in many dance productions.
Sansano’s version, first performed in 2012, is fresh, modernist and concise. The maquia of the title is derived from the term tauromaquia – the bull that nobody can control. The first thing to note is that not all the music is from Carmen, although it is all by Bizet. The way Sansano uses the music is both expressive and successful. His vocabulary is contemporary but lines and shapes have a fundamentally classical aesthetic.
Her story is clear and the action is tempered with a large dose of humour as well as tragedy. The sets (Luis Crespo), costumes (David Delfín) and lighting design (Emilio Lavarías) all contribute to making this a memorable and effective production.
It opens with a distraught Don José clearly mourning the demise of his lover and quickly reverts to the beginning and the unfolding of the jealousies that arise. While it is almost all told in movement, there are brief moments of excitable vocalisation.
At this performance one of the funniest moments was during what can only be described as a ‘bitch-fight’ between Carmen and another woman. Half hidden behind a white wall, the conversation was fabulously depicted with shaking heads, shrill shouting and wild gesticulation. The white, moveable walls of the set provided many useful advantages. With Carmen dressed in black and the rest of the cast in white, her prominence was discernible from the outset. I really liked the monochrome of the stage even showing some Picasso-esque faces on the flats painted only in black and white.
With jagged, brittle movements to nearly every beat of the music, the dancers were charged with very challenging, unrelenting sets of steps which they tackled with remarkable athleticism. Perhaps the overriding impression was that each of them appeared to have their own drama going on, in which they were entirely invested. Highlights included competitive, swaggering interactions between the men or the women and then collective, feisty passages of overt flirtatiousness.
I had the feeling that any one of this particular cast could have slipped into the lead roles but at this showing, the four main characters could not have been bettered. Amanda Ostuni as Mercedes, Don José’s original intended, has a smooth technique and an empathic stage presence. Yet she showed enough spirit to convince me that she would make a good Carmen too.
Omar Rivéra’s Escamillo was deliciously vain. He absolutely nailed the balance between blatant Lothario and disdain that anyone should challenge his superior attractiveness.
Amir J Baldwin’s Don José was a very affecting portrayal. I felt sorry for him at the end when he held Carmen’s limp body in disbelief, killed by his own angry hand (strange that it should provoke that reaction in me).
Amanda del Valle was an extraordinary Carmen. Beautiful to look at, she had an understated strength of character that somehow blasted through the surface. All her duets, especially with Baldwin, were infused with sensuality and sincerity (even if she was on a mission to fulfil her own desires).
Ballet Hispánico’s artistic director/CEO since 2009, Eduardo Vilaro, must have felt a great deal of pride in his company. Dancers and production were excellent. When will we see them in London? Soon I hope.
