Sara Baras plays the role of ‘Carmen’
The bailaora premieres a new show based
on Mérimée’s work at Barcelona’s
Teatro del Liceu which will be staged in Paris at year’s
end
Flamenco-world.com, September 2007
‘Juana la Loca’,
‘Mariana Pineda’… and now ‘Carmen’.
Cádiz-born bailaora Sara Baras once again bases
herself on a mythical female character. Mérimée’s
cigarette girl, so inspiring to flamenco, is the axis
of this new show in which the artist acts as choreographer
and artistic director. The show, with costumes by Sybilla,
premieres at Barcelona’s Teatro del Liceu from September
2nd to 8th. Afterwards, it is scheduled to be performed
at the Théâtre des Champs Élysées
in Paris from December 18th, 2007 to January 7th, 2008.
Sara
Baras completes another trilogy. If she closed the
one with storyline-free shows two seasons ago with ‘Sabores’,
she now finishes the one with storylines with ‘Carmen’.
The Cádiz-born artist resorts to a third female
character, after playing the roles of Joan of Arc and
Mariana Pineda. And she chooses the Sevillian cigarette
girl depicted by Mérimée who has already
inspired flamenco dance companies such as those of Antonio
Gades, Antonio Canales and La Cuadra de Sevilla.
(Photo Sara Baras Company)
As explained in the program, in this
new show “Carmen has become independent from Mérimée’s
storyline and nearly from Bizet’s music. On the
other hand, the love tragedy is maintained, expressed
through the images generated by the code belonging to
flamenco, song and baile”. The dance stars will
be Sara Baras herself as the main character, plus guest
bailaores José
Serrano and Luis
Ortega. And joining them is the company’s dance
corps, consisting of ten bailaores moving according to
the choreography by Baras, who is also the show’s
artistic director.
The authorship of the music, made up
of adaptations of the score by Bizet, is split up between
Paco
de Lucía, Joan Valent, Javier Ruibal, José
Carlos Gómez, José María Bandera
and Mario Montoya. And the live cante is by Ángela
Gómez, María Gómez, Saúl Quirós
and Miguel de la Tolea. The cast is completed with José
María Sicilia on stage design, Valentín
Álvarez on lighting and Sybilla on costume design.
From Barcelona to Paris
‘Carmen’ by Sara Baras premieres
from September 2nd to 8th, 2007 at the Teatre del Liceu
in Barcelona, with the participation of the Orquesta de
la Academia del Gran Teatre del Liceu conducted by Joan
Valent. Afterwards, the show will stop at the Théâtre
des Champs Élysées in Paris, where it will
be on the bill from December 18th, 2007 to January 7th,
2008. Two years ago, the company premiered ‘Sabores’
on the same stage.
(Photo Sara Baras Company)
