Arts writer
THE POPULAR ballet Carmen will once again feature a passionate love triangle. Veronica Paeper choreo-graphs the work to be staged by Cape Town City Ballet at the Artscape Theatre from March 25 to 31.
This anticipated production will feature Laura Bösenberg with Thomas Thorne and Kim Vieira with Ivan Boonzaaier in the leading roles of Carmen and Don José.
Audiences can also look forward to seeing the award-winning couple, Tracy Li and Daniel Rajna, appearing as guest artists in the roles at select performances.
Of the two main characters in the ballet, Paeper says: “Carmen is a gypsy and an absolute free spirit. She is possessed of a wild and rebellious nature, combined with a highly seductive and charismatic appeal for the opposite sex. Don José, on the other hand, is a soldier, disciplined, with strong principles, but very naïve – two people, poles apart, who become lovers, but in whose lives fate intervenes”.
The role of the dashing toreador, Escamillo, will be danced by Jesse Milligan, Daniel Szybkowski and Conrad Nusser and that of Micaela, loyal and trusting fiancée of Don José, by Jane Fidler, Frieda Mennen and Elizabeth Nienaber.
The doomed love affair is played out against scenic backdrops by set designer Peter Cazalet, realistically depicting the harsh life in and around an Andalusian town of the late 1800s.
With original music by Georges Bizet arranged by Michael Tuffin, The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Allan Stephenson, will accompany the dancers at all six performances.
l Tickets: R100 to R220, 021 421 7695.