Flamenco is a folk form of art rooted in southern Spain, compounded of singing, music and dance. It features the most unreserved human emotion and rapid, flexible rhythm, expressed by the dancers in their gestures and postures.

 

Flamenco is one of the two national treasures of Spain, the other is bullfighting. The most authentic performance of flamenco can be seen in Seville and Granada.

Carmen, a beautiful tragedy written by Prosper Mérimée, was initially staged as an opera adapted by composer Georges Bizet, then it becomes an unfailing art work on the world stage. It is also one of the world’s most frequently performed and popular masterpieces.

 

Carmen’s love is natural, fiery and unrestrained. She is a bold and unfettered gypsy girl, and also a proud gypsy woman with half an angel and half a devil. Love grows envy and envy begets hate. The story, derived from Gypsies’ unbridled rebellious nature, can only be interpreted accurately by Flamenco, the quintessence of the Spanish culture.

The Ballet Flamenco de Granada is a world-renowned outstanding flamenco ensemble. They have performed brilliantly across the world. The Ballet Flamenco de Granada Carmen is the best of all Spanish flamencos. The personality traits and contradictory mentality of Carmen, too complex to fathom, are presented exquisitely in the dance by means of dance vocabulary, original accompaniment, characterisation, dramatic conflict, and plot development.

 

 

Don José: Javier Martos

Tuerto: Javier Serrano

 

 

Carmen tells a tragic love story that took place in the city of Seville, Spain in 1830. The heroine, Carmen, a free-spirited Gypsy girl, yearns for free love, and tempts a young soldier, Don José, who falls in love with her. Later, Don José violates military discipline for Carmen, fighting with others and becoming an army deserter. Carmen makes him a smuggler. Nonetheless, dutiful to his mother and missing the military life, Don José comes into a violent conflict with Carmen. She shifts her love to another man, Escamillo, a matador. Don José begs Carmen piteously to return to him, only to be refused by her. Losing his head, Don José stabs Carmen to death.

Ballet Flamenco de Granada
The Ballet Flamenco de Granada is a prestigious ballet company in Spain and even the world. Since its establishment, flamenco, the national dance art of Spain, has been no longer single-formed. Genuine art thus finds expression in the Company’s works, especially in the magic colours, rhythms, emotions, dynamism, aesthetic feeling, harmony and charm. Their dance always advances with the times. On the basis of retaining the essence of classical flamenco, the choreographers are progressive in innovating the form and content of dance expression.

 

As one of the three leading Spanish flamenco ensembles, the Ballet Flamenco de Granada has plenty of years of experience. They have attended the top International Flamenco Festival many times and won laurels. All year round they go abroad for exchanges on behalf of the Spanish flamenco art, and have toured Japan, Korea, Russia, and other European countries to promote the most authentic flamenco.