‘Mi Carmen Flamenca’ reimagines the legendary story of Carmen taking her to her true home: flamenco. Antonio Andrade and his company present us with a captivating show that combines the purest tradition with the freshness of modernity. This unique fusion of passion, freedom and art immerses us in a universe where flamenco comes to life with force and overflowing emotion.

 

 

 

Synopsis
Curiously, it was two Frenchmen who forged the myth of Spain and its women: Prosper Mérimée, with his tragic novel, and Georges Bizet, with his ardent and passionate opera. Carmen, the indomitable, prefers to die rather than lie or renounce her freedom. Her love is as absolute as it is ephemeral, given only at the moment of greatest intensity.

 

Antonio Andrade and his Compañía Flamenca have adapted this story in the metropolis of flamenco, imbuing it with the spirit of Seville. They take Carmen’s classic themes and reinterpret them with the vision of the current Flamenco Nuevo, where Arab, jazz and salsa elements merge with the intensity of pure flamenco. The production ‘Mi Carmen Flamenca’ takes Carmen out of the exile of classical music and brings her back to her home, flamenco, in a direct, pure and unostentatious way.

 

 

Manolo Marín, choreographer of Mi Carmen Flamenca
Manolo Marín is considered one of the most important flamenco choreographers in Spain. He was a great dancer and worked as a choreographer with figures such as Carlos Saura, Cristina Hoyos, Manuela Vargas, María Pagés and Miguel Narros. His first contact with ‘Carmen’ was in Paris, where he choreographed a television appearance for a Brazilian opera singer. Later, it was Carlos Saura himself who called him to choreograph a production of Carmen at the Spoleto Festival in Italy.

 

His collaboration with the Compañía Flamenca de Antonio Andrade began in 1995, with the production ‘Flamenco es mi vida’. Tackling a work like Carmen, already performed thousands of times, represents a unique challenge for Manolo Marín: “I won’t do something that is much better than everything that has already been done, but I will do something of my own. I will strip it of many elements, leaving out the folkloric and the clichés. In Spain not everything is resolved with knives, not everything is black and tragic. Flamenco is not only tragedy; it is also humour and joy”.

 

 

 

Berliner Kurier:
A feast for the senses
“… Colourful costumes, the furious clacking of heels and fiery solos heat up the audience… As changeable as the love story is also the variety of the dances… The highlight of the evening: the dance of Carmen’s death. While a group of Spaniards celebrate the fiesta with joy, Don José can no longer bear Carmen’s amorous rejection. He kills her. Flamenco is perfect for this: expression of love, death and passion… This fire is transmitted to the audience, who respond with thunderous applause”.

 

Süddeutsche Zeitung:
Pure passion
‘… A Carmen that neither Georges Bizet nor any man could have imagined better: in a fiery red dress, the low-cut bustier held in place by thin straps, the dark hair tied back at the nape of the neck, the rounded, swaying hips, she embodies femininity in its purest form.’

 

Stuttgarter Nachrichten:
The strength of the flamenco essence
‘Mi Carmen Flamenca’ is a courageous, innovative and completely successful staging, which leaves flamenco clichés behind and envelops the spectator with its dance… Distancing elements enrich the ancestral form of flamenco with a dimension of thought that is not always evident in this genre. Idyllic scenes in silhouette alternate with images of earthy, primal strength; intense scenes of singing in the dark are succeeded by a vibrant, colourful modernity”.

 

Fight of sexes instead of bullfight

“The company shows that flamenco is not only tragedy, but also humour and joy, in a perfectly choreographed presentation. A modern staging, with ironic allusions not only to the original classic, but also, in the disco sequences, to flamenco itself… Carmen is strong and self-confident… And she shows all her temperament in the group scenes… The floor trembles under her quick steps to the rhythm of Inmaculada Rivero’s lively singing.”