The Ballet of the National Opera presents a new production of the ballet “Carmen”, choreographed by the great Swedish choreographer Johan Inger, which was premiered in 2015 in Madrid by the National Ballet of Spain. From February 7, 2024 and for six unique performances in the Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Theater at the SNFCC, under the musical direction of Hector Tartani. The production is implemented with the support of the donation of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) to strengthen the artistic extroversion of the National Opera.

The distinguished dancer and choreographer Joan Inger, with his long, highly successful run at the Nederlands Dans Theater, as well as other major European dance groups, created the ballet “Carmen” for the National Ballet of Spain, where he achieved particular success. Indicative of the worldwide appeal of the choreography is that it has already been successfully presented in Monte Carlo, while shortly after its Athens premiere it will travel to Sydney where it will be presented by the National Ballet of Australia and in London by the National Ballet of England.

Inger took on the risk and challenge of creating a new choreography for Bizet’s heroine, who is considered a symbol of love and freedom, prioritizing a different reading of the famous story. So he chose to focus on the issue of violence, but through the eyes of a child. From this perspective, Inger urges the viewer to follow the action of the story through the filter of innocence.

The choreographer notes: “My Carmen is not only based on the female protagonist of the story but, like Merimet’s original novella, my ballet focuses on the amorous desperation of Don José, who, accepting the free nature of his beloved, embarks on a path towards Hell, driven by his primal instincts: passion and revenge. There is an element of mystery to this character: he could be a child, he could be Don José. It could even be us, with our primal goodness scarred by the experience of violence, which, even if it doesn’t last long, may have forever negatively affected our lives and our ability to connect with others. others”.

Born in 1967 in Stockholm, Johan Inger joined Nederlands Dans Theater 1 in 1990 and was its featured dancer until 2002. In 1995 his debut as a choreographer, also on behalf of Nederlands Dans Theater, was quickly met with high expectations and immediate recognition. Inger left the Nederlands Dans Theater to become artistic director of the Kuhlberg Ballet in Stockholm in 2003, where he created numerous works. Since 2008, Yoan has been working as a freelance choreographer and has created choreographies for many troupes around the world such as Gothenburg Opera, Basel Ballet, Swedish National Ballet, Spanish National Ballet, Atermaletto, Opera Ballet of Lyon, the Ballets de Monte Carlo and of course the Nederlands Dans Theater, where he was Associate Choreographer from 2009 to 2016. He has received awards such as Lucas Hoving Production, Danza & Danza and Benois de la Danse. In 2022 Yoan Inger also became the artistic director of Take Off Dance, a training program for future professional dancers between the ages of 18 and 24 based in Seville.

In Inger’s choreography, the ballet version of “Carmen” by Rodion Sedrin – Georges Bizet, in a new orchestration by Alvaro Dominguez Bathqueth, “converses” with the original musical composition of Marc Alvarez. The creation is signed by Urtsi Aranbourou and the dramaturgy by Gregor Akunia-Paul. Sets are by Kurt Allen Wilmer and Letitias Ghanian (AAPEE) with deDos Studio, costumes by David Delfin (in revival by Maria Luisa Ramos Corrales) and lighting by Tom Bisser.

The Orchestra of the National Opera will be conducted by the Stuttgart-born chief musician Hector Tartanis, in his debut at ELLS. From the artistic season 2023/24 he is the new chief musician of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Lower Bavaria and has appeared with great success in music halls in Germany and abroad. In recent years he has been working closely with the internationally acclaimed chief musician Theodoros Kourentzis. In addition to music direction, he systematically deals with composition as well.

The First Dancers, the Soloists, the Principals and the Corps de ballet of the National Opera participate.

As part of its social policy, the National Opera offers 300 free seats to the unemployed, in the general test of the production of the ballet Carmen on Tuesday, February 6, 2024 at 7:00 p.m., in the Stavros Niarchos Hall, at the SNFCC. The distribution of the free seats for the general test – with the presentation of an unemployment card/certificate and an identity card – takes place at the ticket office of Ticket Services (University 39, inside Stoas Pesmazoglou), today (February 5), until 17.00.