Ford Amphitheatre (Hollywood, CA)
State Street Ballet presents the Los Angeles premiere of William Soleau's ballet, Carmen, under the stars at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre. A tale of lust, treachery and fate, Carmen captures the dramatic power of Bizet's opera about a young officer's obsession with the magnetic Gypsy Carmen. This Santa Barbara-based ballet company is noted as one of the region's most acclaimed.
Event summary prepared by the Goldstar Editorial Team.
* Additional fees apply.
All offers for Carmen by State Street Ballet have expired.
Tell me when more tickets / dates are added
The last date listed for Carmen by State Street Ballet was Friday August 17, 2007 / 8:00pm. (view all dates)
Currently at Ford Amphitheatre:
Enjoy Mother's Day outdoors with live blues and jazz at the John Anson Ford Amphitheater. Enjoy the soulful sounds of Barbara Morrison, who has been performing jazz, blues and contemporary music for over 30 years now. Also appearing will be the Bu Crew, J. Boykin Bennett, Mandam D and Joe Kincaid & The Soul Brothers. The event is hosted by A.J. Jamal, host of Comic Justice on the Comedy Central Network. Learn More
A few of the dancers were very technically advanced. None of them had any stage presence. I would expect a lot more emotion from the principal, but there was virtually none. The dancer playing the toreador was obviously not a trained dancer and it was clear they only used him for his height and ability with the cape. This dance company has done stellar performances in the past. I don't know what happened. There really wasn't the excitement there usually is with this company or anything even close to the passion one would expect for this particular ballet. I'm not a layperson writing about this. I'm a trained dancer with a bachelor's degree in dance history, theory and choreography from the University of California, Riverside.
Excellent event. Thank you!
The dancing in itself was wonderful, but the costumes, hair and make-up left much much to be desired. I wish I could have been back stage to curl their hair and put a little make up on the dancers. Most of the female dancers looked like they just stepped out of the shower and put their hair in a rubberband ponytail. I understand costumes are costly but the lack of adequate costumes took away from the beauty of the dance. I enjoyed the dancing but was very dissappointed at how little pride the the dancer's took in their costume, hair and make-up appearance. The sets were, well what sets? Two or three ramps that could have doubled as skate board ramps, no more no less.
The 1241-seat outdoor Ford Amphitheatre is set against a backdrop of cypresses and chaparral in the Hollywood Hills. It is relatively intimate: no patron is more than 96 feet away from the stage. Music, dance, film, theatre and family events are presented during the summer months. The Ford Amphitheatre Season is a program of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.
State Street Ballet of Santa Barbara led by Artistic Director Rodney Gustafson, will make it’s debut at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre in the Los Angeles Premiere of their full-length production of Carmen, based on Georges Bizet’s opera (1854) and Prosper Mérimée’s original story (1845) of the same name, with special string and percussion musical arrangements conceived by Rodion Shehedrin, and choreography by William Soleau.
The cast will be led by Corina Gill as Carmen and Spencer Gavin as Don José, the star-crossed lovers. Other members of the cast will include: Bayaraa Badamsambuu, Andrea Blankstein, Raydel Caceres, Leila Drake, Terez Dean, Sergei Domrachev, Enton Hoxha, Steven Jasso, Alyson Mattoon, Katie McDermott, Scott Pascal, John C. Piel, Jennifer Rowe, Christine Sawyer and Dana Young. Production personnel include: Sophie Monat and Marina Fliagina, Ballet Mistresses; Mark Somerfield, Lighting and Set Design; Stefania Piazzo, Scenic Artist; A. Christina Giannini, Costumes and David Bazemore, Video and Photographs.
Gustafson said: “This full-length production of State Street Ballet’s Carmen premiered at SUNY Purchase in Westchester, NY during the fall of 2006. One of the goals of State Street Ballet is to reinterpret well-known stories such as Carmen in a new and innovative way. This particular production is conceived to engage traditional audiences of dance while attracting a young generation with a contemporary flair.”
Carmen is the classic tale of one of the most supreme and famous femme-fatales in literary history. The story, which is laced with lust and treachery, is the fateful tale of a dashing young military officer (Don José) who is obsessively drawn to the earthy charm and sultry, sensual, magnetic beauty of a Gypsy girl (Carmen). Other principal roles in the ballet include: Escamillo, a Toreador also in love with Carmen; Michaela, Don José’s girlfriend; Mercedes, Carmen’s Gypsy friend; and Zuniga, Captain of the Guards.
Choreographer William Soleau retells this story of the proud Gypsy and her desperate lover in a contemporary ballet style that borrows from both classical ballet and modern influences. Soleau said: “Over the past 20 years, I’ve always created my own stories, my own libretto, but here for the first time I am choreographing a well-known story from one of the world’s most popular operas. One reason why it’s so challenging is that people already know the story, so you have to take it and bring to it something that's unique and original.”
State Street Ballet is a professional ballet company dedicated to presenting excellent new work in dance while preserving the classics. Its mission is to enrich audiences by making dance available to a wide and diverse audience.
