It was a bittersweet evening at the Royal Opera House. We were about to see the beginning of the end of the dazzling career of Cuban superstar Carlos Acosta, who has been wowing audiences with his dancing here for seventeen years. Now, at the age of 42, he has decided to hang up his canvas ballet slippers. For his Royal Ballet swansong, he has choreographed Carmen, a one-act ballet, in which he will (at different performances) also be dancing the roles of both Don Jose and Escamillo. With the auditorium filled with his fans, expectations at the première were naturally high with everyone willing him to succeed. And thanks to his magnetic presence, the scintillating Marianela Núñez, and an unexpectedly slick Federico Bonelli, the long applause at the end showed they were not disappointed.
Acosta, who created a fun-filled, full length Don Quixote for the company two years ago has encapsulated the story of Carmen into one act of action, mixing elements of contemporary, Spanish and street dancing together with Carmen’s pointe shoes. He has also included musicians and singers on stage. The set is eye-catching with its huge ring of fire dominating the action and into which stands the silhouette of the Bull/Fate figure, complete with Highland cattle horns and muscular body.
Dressed in a Confederate Army uniform and cap, Acosta made a convincing Don José, succumbing to the wiles of the flirty Carmen, only later to be destroyed by her. As to be expected, his still powerful dancing was imbued with natural heart-rending acting and he had in Núñez the perfect partner. She simply was Carmen from her flirtatious glances, her fiery sensual dancing, her enticing actions and her sensual poses, and there were some hot love scenes to enact also. Bonelli’s Escamillo was proud, cocky and full of himself, and he played it well. The other dancers often got lost in the gloom of the darkened stage, especially when they were dressed in black. However, we all appreciated the boys’ fine striptease – right down to their underpants – during the opening number!
It was the music alas that didn’t do so well. Bizet’s score is electrifying, Rodion Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite is pure magic, but this one – arranged and orchestrated by Martin Yates – seemed a tame, thin collection of famous arias with very little of the excitement or anticipation that the music demands. Hopefully it, and the playing of it, will improve at subsequent performances. There’s a lot to praise about this production, but there are also places where it could be tightened somewhat.
Carmen was the final work on the evening’s mixed bill programme. It opened with Liam Scarlett’s Viscera, originally created for Miami City Ballet in 2012, and first performed by Royal Ballet the same year. Like its title indicates, it is a gutsy work involving brisk, often brutal throws and tosses, off-balance dancing, with endless physical energy propelled throughout. More in the style of Balanchine, its strong dancers show off sharp attacking legs and constant, sometimes syncopated movement to Lowell Liebermann’s Piano Concerto no. 1. But it also showed glimpses of Scarlett’s Royal Ballet training in the quicksilver change of direction, speedy small footwork and a hint of humour. Laura Morera brought a purpose to her solos with sparkling eyes and a half smile that hinted at living a story inside her unknown to her audience. Leticia Stock and Nehemiah Kish performed the pas de deux – she perfectly sculpturing her limbs and body around him, while he proved an excellent partner.