Yo, Carmen | Dance in Melbourne
  1. Yo, Carmen
    Photograph: Supplied
  2. Yo, Carmen
    Photograph: Supplied
  3. Yo, Carmen
    Photograph: Supplied
  4. Yo, Carmen
    Photograph: Supplied

Yo, Carmen

[Sponsored] An immortal character from grand opera becomes a feminist heroine in a spectacular reimagining by flamenco star María Pagés
  • Dance
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Time Out says

María Pagés is considered the queen of modern flamenco. The Sevillian dancer and choreographer, spearhead of the María Pagés Compañía, has been hailed as a great innovator in the traditional dance form of southern Spain. So what happens when a real-life woman and dancer from Seville tackles the story of Carmen, the 1875 French opera set in Seville that crystallises many of the clichés about Spain and Spanish women in particular?   

You get Yo, Carmen (I, Carmen) – a production that uses flamenco, poetry and famous arias from Bizet’s Carmen to tell a different story, a contemporary ode to what it means to be a woman. Pagés and her ensemble of dancers are joined by six flamenco musicians to present a bold blend of the operatic Carmen, the songs that inspired it and some new flamenco compositions.

The most famous femme fatale in the operatic canon, Carmen is a rebellious, seductive figure who bewitches both a military man and a bullfighter and (naturally) meets a tragic end. Páges has been praised for freeing this character from stereotypes of male sexual fantasy and victimhood in a show that draws upon the primal aural and visual power of flamenco. Acclaimed as hugely entertaining, Yo, Carmen reinvents Carmen as an everywoman and feminist heroine.  

Páges rose to fame as a guest artist in Michael Flatley’s Riverdance phenomenon and formed her own award-winning company in 1990. She and the company have performed on some of the most famous stages in the world, including Radio City Music Hall, Sadler’s Wells in London, Théâtre National de Chaillot (Paris), the Kremlin Palace, Hong Kong Cutural Centre and Komische Oper in Berlin.

María Pagés Compañía now comes to Hamer Hall at the Arts Centre Melbourne in March for two nights only. Tickets are on sale now.

Details

Address
Price:
$30-$88
Opening hours:
8pm
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