TrulyGrace

Carmen, the recent ballet

Friday night, I attended the ballet Carmen (music, Bizet; choreography, Amadeo Amodio) at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater (PBT). There are two photos here: The one on the left is from the rehearsal of Carmen; the one on the right is a publicity shot of the ballet.

It was nice to relax and enjoy the pre-performance talk with Terence Orr, the artistic director of PBT; and some of the dancers from the company. Principals through apprentices joined Terry Orr to deliver the talk. Our group organized by Anita then walked around the corner to the front entrance of the Benedum, where there were musicians protesting the fact that the PBT is using recorded music for this season.

As I entered the lobby, I had a chance to stop in and say hello to Nancy Kramer, the volunteer coordinator for the PBT. I've been volunteering for the PBT for about 8 years now. Luke, a nice fellow from our group, took my picture with Nancy. I wore pink that day, to raise breast cancer awareness.


The ballet was different from the opera was different from the movie Carmen Jones. Like all of the Carmens, this version was sensual and filled with jealous lovers. Carmen in this version was a violinist, with other updates to the original opera. The beginning of the ballet starts with the everyday characters taking on the roles from Carmen, then it ends with the roles falling away and we are left with the bullfighter looking only at himself in the mirror.

posted by Grace @ 10/10/2005 05:15:00 PM