Carmen is Patrick de Bana‘s first work created for La Scala Ballet. De Bana delves into the mythology, culture, perfumes and icons of Spain filtered through his own personal experience, to reinforce the essence of Carmen.
He has chosen Rodion Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite as the basis for the score, mixing in the raw sounds of the story’s gypsy roots with El Pele and Vicente Amigo’s Aconteció (from their 2003 album Canto), and Ayer en Hoy by Montse Cortés with Juana la del Pipa.
“There are more ‘Spains’,” says de Bana, “but I choose this one that connects my imagination to the past, and finds in the present the reflections of the country’s rich culture and immense art. It is from this intimate connection with Spain that I drew the first outlines of my Carmen – a woman with an ancient and captivating gypsy heritage, but also a passionate and independent heroine. My Don José is entranced by the legacy of her perverse way of understanding love and, undoubtedly, destiny shown as an uncompromising ‘master of ceremonies’ who will pursue them everywhere.”
De Bana’s Carmen is a visceral and emotional interpretation of Prosper Mérimée’s, and within the famous story, the choreographer performs ’emotional surgery’, eviscerating key moments expunged from the original to reveal new nuances and textures. Through a dialogue between the characters of Death and the Bull, a symbolic two-headed figure embodying both spiritual aspects and earthly forces, de Bana aims to “transform this legendary story into a powerful and renewed drama, generating an experience that will resonate long after the piece finishes”.
La Scala will offer three casts with the étoiles Roberto Bolle and Nicoletta Manni for the premiere on 28 February 2025, then Bolle will have Alice Mariani as his Carmen, who will also dance the role with Nicola Del Freo. Linda Giubelli and Claudio Coviello also play Carmen and Don José.
The other protagonists are La Morte (Edoardo Caporaletti, then Navrin Turnbull and Emanuele Cazzato), Il Toro (Andrea Crescenzi, then Rinaldo Venuti and Domenico Di Cristo), Michaela (Maria Celeste Losa, then Camilla Cerulli and Madoka Sasaki), il Torero (Marco Agostino then Gabriele Corrado and Gioacchino Starace), Manuela (Caterina Bianchi, then Gaia Andreanò and Stefania Ballone) with a world of cigarmakers, guards, and gypsies brought to life by the La Scala company for a work involving thirty dancers.
Carmen – World Premiere
Patrick de Bana, choreography
Aida Badia, assistant choreographer
José Andrade, libretto
Rodion Ščedrin (Carmen Suite) El Pele&Vicente Amigo (Aconteció) Montse Cortés con Juana la del Pipa (Ayer en Hoy), music
Ricardo Sánchez Cuerda, scenes
Stephanie Bäuerle, costumes
Ivan Vinogradov, lights
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.