[NEohioPAL] Berko review: CARMEN STORY OF PASSION @ Verb Ballets

[Roy Berko]

VERB BALLETS: creative CARMEN: STORY OF PASSION, DanceWorks 2012



Roy Berko

(Member, Dance Critics Association)



Verb Ballets is in the midst of a reinvigoration project.   The company has
added several much needed new male dancers.  The results were positively
displayed in their production of CARMEN:  STORY OF PASSION, their entry in
DANCEWORKS 2012.



CARMEN is a sensual ballet based on Georges Bizet’s four-act opera.  The
music is noted for its melody, harmony and emotionality.  It creates the
proper mood for compassionate dance.



Choreographer Richard Dickinson has created a short story piece which takes
advantage of the quality of the music, Verb’s new male dancers, and its
fine female corps.



Physically, the audience is seated in a formation that resembles a bull
fighting ring.  It fits the story of Carment, the fiery gypsy, who seduces
men including Don José, a naïve soldier.  In a fit of rage, Don José kills
Escamillo, the glamorous toreador, who is another of Carmen’s lovers.  The
story highlights jealousy, immorality, lawlessness, seduction, sorrow, and
revenge.



The entire company sets the proper moods.  The audience is seduced into
complicity as the dancers use empty chairs in the seating segment between
exits and entrances.



The night I attended, Kara Madden, with flashing eyes and seductive moves,
convincingly portrayed the hot tempered Carmen.  Arthur Prettyman well
danced Don José, Katie Gnagy portrayed Micaela, Don José’s jilted lover,
with yearning tenderness.  Brian Murphy’s take on Escamillo was refreshing.
Usually the role is sung (in the opera) and danced (in the ballet version)
with the egocentric disdain of an idolized toreador.  Murphy, instead, gave
a human quality to the characterization.  Or Sagi, as Lieutenant Luniga,
has a captivating stage presence which gives an added dimension to the male
Verb presence.



Janet Bolick’s costumes fit the mood and era of the setting.



The missing element for many was the absence of the famous bull ring cape
routine which is one of Verbs’ signature pieces.  Though a wonderful visual
image, it was wisely omitted.  It would have distracted rather than added
to the Dickinsonian image of the piece.



Verb’s next presentation will be INVENfreshTIONS, with choreography by many
of the company members, on May 25 ande 26 at the Verb Ballets Studios, 3445
Warrensville Center, Shaker Heights.  Seating is limited.  Call
216-397-3757 for reservations.  There is no ticket charge, but a $15
suggested donation is encouraged.
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