RB 'Carmen' reviews 'Carmen' reviews 'Por Vos Muero' reviews 'Middle' reviews Guillem in reviews Murru in reviews recent RB reviews

I went into Carmen on Friday half-expecting it to be a wasted evening since the first 2 ballets were seen recently and I'm not a huge fan of Mats Ek. But I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed Carmen enormously. It shrugged off my jetlag and had me captivated the whole way through. Sylvie is beyond fantastic. Her Carmen doesn't seem so much a woman or even human, but more an animal or spider the way she uses her long limbs and predates on men. She comes across as very sexy and very powerful.

Massimo Murru I had a hard time picking out near the beginning but his despair was hilarious and very touching. Jonathan Cope’s Escamillo made me laugh aloud. His grand entrance in bronze lame, the way he shakes his bonbon for a good 60 seconds at the audience and struts around the stage has to be seen to be believed. I was sitting at the front of the amphitheatre so I couldn’t really see, but was he doing this with a straight face?

The choreography IS ugly. The positions Carmen strikes are horrible but so humorous it doesn’t make me cringe the way say some of MacMillan’s stuff does. It's original and fascinating and the emotions and drama get across, though admittedly I didn’t have a clue what was going on for most of the ballet. Guess I should have read the programme notes. The business with Carmen dragging scarves out of Jose and Escamillo from leaves a lot to the imagination! Still the beautiful music pulls it through (will we ever get to see Roland Petit’s version?) and everything clicks into place at the end. The portable Swiss cheese sets and the stunning super-garish costumes only add to the humour. I really have to give full marks to the dancers because they looked so confident in themselves in a style that must be so new to them. Hearing them shouting was so strange, and must have been even stranger for them. Definitely not Royal Ballet and to be truthful I can only take Ek in small doses, but a fun ride for me. Lord help us if Stretton really does invite Ek back to create something for our dancers. I can’t wait to see what Tamara Rojo makes of the role.

In the middle was excellent – Zenaida Yanowsky especially and I haven’t tired of it yet. I can’t really say the same for Por Vos Muero. I can sort of see why critics find it so shallow. It’s still very beautiful and I love the first big group number, but it’s less enjoyable with subsequent viewings. The ballet doesn’t really hold attention and I found myself drifting halfway. The poor lighting in both had me squinting for most of the way trying to pick out dancers. Still I thought this triple bill as a whole was the most interesting mix of ballets so far in the season.