"Carmen" is a work born from the pen of Prosper Merimee, which has excited many directors and choreographers since its creation. The story was first interpreted as a ballet by Marius Petipa in a ballet based on Merimee's story of the same name, staged in 1845 under the title Carmen et son toréro at the Teatro del Circo in Madrid. Unfortunately the musical score of this ballet has not been preserved. In 1875 the composer Georges Bizet and his librettists turned the story into an opera, after which it proved impossible to interpret the plot without building on the music of the opera.
In 1931, Kasyan Goleizovsky staged his one-act ballet Carmen based on Bizet at the Moscow Art Ballet with an arrangement of the music by B. Б. Ber. In 1939 a new one-act ballet to Bizet's music appeared, entitled Guns and Castanets, which was staged in Chicago to a script by R. Page with choreographer B. Stone. Then, in 1959, the ballet Carmen was staged again in Chicago at the Ruth Page International Ballet, orchestrated by I. van Grove to Bizet's music.
Roland Petit was the first to use Georges Bizet's complete score for the Ballets de Paris company in 1949 for performances in London, and then with success in Paris and the USA. Versions of this production have been staged many times in other theatres in Europe and the US.
In the 1960s, Maya Plisetskaya, the legend of Bolshoi Theatre, approached Cuban choreographer Alberto Alonso to create a ballet based on Carmen. After rehearsals with the National Ballet of Cuba, he staged the Carmen Suite with Maya in Moscow, incorporating elements of Cuban dance. Maya's husband, Rodion Shchedrin, adapted the music, adding new instruments and parts from other works such as Bizet's Arlesian and Massenet's Cid... Alonso placed the image of Carmen, masterfully recreated by Maya, at the center of his choreography. Today, the work is in the permanent repertoire of the Bolshoi and the National Ballet of Cuba, but also in the repertoire of the Mariinsky Theatre of St. Petersburg.
Composers V. Fortner and W. Steinbrenner in 1970 arranged Bizet's music for the production of the one-act ballet Carmen in Stuttgart.
In 1983, the production of Antonio Gadès in the film directed by Carlos Saura left a strong impression. It seems to be the most accurate and intimate perception of the story of Carmen and José today, through Bizet's dance and music, adequate to our times.
In 1992 the flamenco-ballet Carmen by Rafael Aguilar was staged to music by Bizet and Sarasate, and in the same year the avant-garde choreographer Mats Ek, known for his original interpretation of ballet classics, presented his interpretation of Carmen to the public.
In 2000, a production of "Car-Man" (a play on words with the English title Car Man) by British choreographer Matthew Bourne was released, with a libretto based on West Side Story and Merimee's story set to music by Bizet-Schedrin.
In 2013, choreographer Natalia Osipova offered European audiences her own interpretation of the story of the enchanting Carmen in her ballet Carmen, set to an original musical collage of Bizet's music - timeless fragments from his opera The Harlesian, complemented by fragments from his little-known symphonic and chamber works. Skillfully and harmoniously, with confidence and inimitable creative range, it combines the most striking features of classical dance and neo-classical, refracted through the expressiveness of modern dance.
The ballet Carmen, with a libretto and staged by Natalia Osipova, illuminates on stage the invisible force that fuels Carmen's spirit, predetermining her life and her death. In the combination of images, the contours of Fate emerge - strong, overwhelming, moving the drama towards its fatal end, at once respectable with its formidable presence and fascinatingly seductive. Like sparks born of the fire of Fate, the souls of all the characters in the drama flash and die - José's soul - hopelessly in love with Carmen, Torreador's soul - in love with his own image, and Carmen's soul - in love with life and, therefore, forever doomed by the sentence of the time in which she is destined to exist.
Shadows and images with which Fate plays the cruel game of life and death emerge in relief, doomed to its omnipotent subjugation, sinking into the swirls of their characters.
This is the work created from the words of Prosper Merimee, reborn from the music of Georges Bizet, refracted through the fantasy and sensuality of Natalia Osipova. An eternal story of a man and a woman entwined by the threads of fate - a story in which every human being finds something of himself.
NATALIA OSIPOVA
Natalia Osipova is known as the prima ballerina of the Mikhailovsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, a ballet teacher at the State Theatre in St. Petersburg, and currently a teacher in Lyon and a choreographer with international exposure. She is a dancer, choreographer, ballet director, teacher of classical and character dance. As a ballet dancer, Natalia Osipova enjoys an inexhaustible list of central roles in the great classical titles in her repertoire, which she has had the opportunity to perform all over the world with the brilliance of her dance and artistic talent, nurtured and developed by the greatest world ballet school that exists and of which she is a representative. Part of her rich experience in the world of ballet are the central roles in the classical titles "Swan Lake", "The Sleeping Beauty", "The Nutcracker", "Don Quixote", "Giselle", "Romeo and Juliet", "La Bayadere", "Raymonda", "Le Corsaire", "Esmeralda" and others. She also performs central roles in modern, contemporary and neoclassical ballets, including the titles "Robbers" by F. Schiller, "Macbeth" and "Twelfth Night" by W. Shakespeare, "Faust" by J. Goethe, "The Idiot" by F. Dostoevsky, "Legend" by A. Kuprin, "The Boomerang" by B. Brecht, etc. Graduated as a ballet master-tutor in Russia with honors, in 2009 Natalia chose France as a place to work and live both because of more freedom and personal preferences. In 2012 she created her own dance school "C.I.A.N.O.", which offers qualified training in various dance styles. Today she is a choreographer and ballet teacher in Lyon. Natalia was born on November 22, 1968 in St. Petersburg. In 1979 she entered the world-famous Vaganova State Dance Academy and in 1987 she graduated with the status of a solo artist. In the period 1987-1991 she danced for the prestigious ballet company of Boris Eifman. After 1991 she was a soloist and soon after established herself as a star of the Mussorgsky Academic Opera and Ballet in St. Petersburg (today the Mikhailovsky Theatre) under the artistic direction of Fauch Ruzimatov. Natalia had the opportunity to dance with some of the greatest ballet artists as her partners – Delphine Moussein, Patrick Dupont, Marie-Claude Pietragala, Aurelie Dupont, Farukh Ruzimatov... Natalia received her master's degree in choreography, accompanied by an honorary degree, at the Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory in St. Petersburg. At that time she also organized her first master classes in ballet directing at the Nuremberg-Oster Tanz Tage. Natalia Osipova's pedagogical activities are expressed in both participation and organization of dance seminars and master classes in classical dance, character and jazz dance in many European countries, in Japan and Russia. Among them are the Ballet Intensiv Kurs Nurnberg Oster Tanz Tagz Balletforderzentrume&Tanzhause organized in Nuremberg, the dance schools "Movimento" in Brussels (artistic direction Ornella Latino), the "Ballerino" school in Lembek (Megali Berael), "Dances Passion" in Brussels (Sabine Bernimont), etc. Natalia Osipova is part of the jury of the Great International Choreographic Competition in Liege, of the International Competition for Classical, Jazz and Contemporary Dance "Prix Arabesque" in Belgium, of the Roann International Dance Competition. In addition to performing classical productions such as the ballets “Don Quixote” and “The Nutcracker” in Lille, Brussels and Antwerp, Natalia Osipova has been working as a choreographer in the style of neoclassicism and modern ballet for two decades. Among the many productions she has realized, the titles of “Jewish Rhapsody” at the State Conservatory Theater and “The Four Seasons of Woman” by T. Kogan at the State Lensovet Theater in St. Petersburg stand out, “D’Autre Regards” to music by Sibelius and Alfred Schnittke in Cologne, “Confessions of a Dancer” to music by Bach, Beethoven and Brahms at the Atalante Theater in Paris, “The Summer That Never Ends” at the Priut Komedianta Theater in St. Petersburg, “La Fille mal gardee” at the National Ballet of Kosovo and the ballet “CARMEN” in Lyon, Ruse and at the National Ballet Kombatar-Pristina, and many others. She participated in the International Festival “Women Choreographers of the World” in St. Petersburg and in the Third International Theater Festival in Paris, organized by “Compagnie des Matinaux” and Centre Classique International, as well as in the programs of international festivals in Prague, Budapest, Varna, Tokyo, Germany, Italy, France, some of which won Grand Prix and national awards. About France, Natalia Osipova says: “I love this country because of its values, quality of life and gastronomy!
As a ballet dancer, Natalia Osipova enjoys an inexhaustible list of central roles in the great classical titles in her repertoire, which she has had the opportunity to perform all over the world with the brilliance of her dancing and artistic talent, nurtured and developed by the greatest world school of ballet that exists and of which she is a representative. Part of her rich experience in the world of ballet are the central roles in the classical titles Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, La Bayadere, Raymonda, Le Corsaire, Esmeralda and others. She has also performed central roles in modern, contemporary and neo-classical ballets, including the titles of "Les Misérables" by Frédéric Dvorak, "The Robbers" by G. Schiller, "Macbeth" and "Twelfth Night" by W. Shakespeare, "Faust" by J. Goethe, "The Idiot" by F. Dostoevsky, "Legend" by Al. Kuprin, "The Boomerang" by B. Brecht, etc.
Graduated as a ballet master-rehecturer in Russia with honours, in 2009 Natalia chose France as a place to work and live both for more freedom and personal preference. In 2012 she created her own dance school "C.I.A.N.O.", which offers qualified training in various dance styles. Today she is a choreographer and ballet teacher in Lyon.
Natalia was born on 22 November 1968 in St. Petersburg. In 1979 she entered the prestigious Vaganova State Dance Academy and in 1987 graduated with the status of solo artist. Between 1987 and 1991 she danced for the prestigious Boris Eifman Ballet Company.
After 1991 she was a soloist and soon afterwards established herself as a star of the Academic Opera and Ballet "Mussorgsky" in St. Petersburg (today Mikhailovsky Theatre) under the artistic direction of Fauh Ruzimatov. Natalia had the opportunity to dance with some of the greatest ballet artists as her partners - Delphine Mussin, Patrick Dupont, Marie-Claude Pietragala, Aurelie Dupont, Faroukh Ruzimatov...
Natalia received her Master's Degree in Choreography, accompanied by an honorary distinction, from the Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory in St. Petersburg. Then she organized her first master classes in ballet directing at the Nuremberg-Oster Tanz Tage.
Natalia Osipova's pedagogical performances are expressed in her participation and organization of dance seminars and master classes in classical, character and jazz dances in many European countries, Japan and Russia. Among them are the Ballet Intensiv Kurs Nurnberg Oster Tanz Tagz Balletforderzentrume&Tanzhause, the dance schools "Movimento" in Brussels (artistic direction Ornella Latino), the school "Ballerino" in Lembeck (Megali Berael), "Dances Passion" in Brussels (Sabine Bernimont), etc.
Natalia Osipova is part of the jury of the Grand International Choreographic Competition in Liège, the International Competition for Classical, Jazz and Contemporary Dance "Prix Arabesque" in Belgium, the Roann International Dance Competition.
In addition to performing classical productions such as the ballets Don Quixote and The Nutcracker in Lille, Brussels and Antwerp, Natalia Osipova has been working as a choreographer in the style of neoclassicism and modern ballet for two decades. Among the many productions she has realized, the titles of "Jewish Rhapsody" at the State Conservatory Theatre and "The Four Seasons of Woman" by T. Kogan at the Lensovet State Theatre in St. Petersburg, "D'Autre Regards" to music by Sibelius and Alfred Schnittke in Cologne, "Confessions of a Dancer" to music by Bach, Beethoven and Brahms at the Atalante Theatre in Paris, "The Summer That Never Ends" at the Priut Komedianta Theatre in St. Petersburg, "La Fille mal gardee" at the National Ballet of Kosovo and the Carmen Ballet in Lyon, Rousse and at the National Ballet Kombatar-Pristina and many more.
She has participated in the International Festival "Women Choreographers in the World" in St. Petersburg and in the Third International Theatre Festival in Paris, organized by the "Compagnie des Matinaux" and Centre Classique International as well as in the programs of international festivals in Prague, Budapest, Varna, Tokyo, Germany, Italy, France, some of which won Grand Prix and national awards.
About France Natalia Osipova says: "I love this country for its values, quality of life and gastronomy!"
MAYA PLISETSKAYA FOR CARMEN
"I, Maya Plisetskaya"
The great prima of the 20th century Maya Plisetskaya (20.11.1925-2.5.2015) finished her autobiographical book "I, Maya Plisetskaya" in 1994. She wrote it herself from her diaries, which she kept strictly. In the deeply frank account of her life and creative path, full of tragedy and suffered successes, she several times mentions Dmitri Shostakovich, with whom she was connected by a sincere friendship.
"I've always wanted to dance Carmen. I've wanted to do it for so long I can't even remember how long.... The thought of my Carmen lived with me constantly- now smouldering somewhere deep in my soul, now commandingly rushing out. ...I started with the libretto. I sketched the contours of the action on Merimee and Bizet's opera like a naïve dotted line: Carmen, José, flower, love, toreador, jealousy, cards, sword, death. I decided to entertain with my idea who do you think! Shostakovich himself! I copied my libretto by hand and gave my writing to Dmitri Dmitrievich. It seemed to me that he was sincerely interested.
" - You know, Maya Mikhailovna, this subject of ballet is very nice, so to speak. And you have done it all too well, so to speak. I'll think about it."
Outwardly Shostakovich was a soft man, shy, shy to refuse. But inside there was a great hardness, harder than a diamond. Whatever he decided to do, he would do; whatever he didn't want to do, you couldn't force him. A few days later he rang us on the phone and with a stammer and a repeated "so to speak" invited Rodion and me to his villa in Zhukovka.
" -Let's talk about your libretto to "Carmen"."
And we left.
Shostakovich's villa in Zhukovka was just opposite the villa of academician Sakharov. There were some men of an average sort who liked to walk in the bushes and ditches. They saw everything - who was arriving, who was leaving... Shostakovich softly, but adamantly, refused to write music for "Carmen" . His main argument was " I am afraid of Bizet..." with a semi-humorous intonation, so I wrote in my diary at the time. "Everyone is so used to the music of opera that whatever you write will disappoint them. Perhaps Rodion Konstantinovich will think of something more special, so to speak?"
Dmitry Dmitrievich always preferred to address us by first and last name.
Thus was born the ballet Carmen Suite with Rodion Shchedrin's original interpretation of Georges Bizet's music. Maya Plisetskaya performed the role of Carmen 132 times on the stage of the Bolshoi Theatre and over 200 times around the world.
