Choreographing Carmen

Choreographer Amadeo Amodio has always been intrigued with Georges Bizet's opera "Carmen."

"The character of Carmen is a person who expresses herself, no matter what people think," the Italian choreographer said through a translator, just before a rehearsal. "And no matter how people see her, she is still a good woman. But she's always changing her emotions. She shows depth as a character."

With that idea in mind, Amodio, the former artistic director of the Aterballetto Company in Italy, created his ballet version of "Carmen" in 1995. However, basing a ballet on a well-known opera did have its challenges. "I had to find an idea of how to make it work. You will always have doubts about not succeeding when you take on something like this. But once you get an idea that feels good, you work with it."

The idea that stuck with Amodio was setting his ballet backstage at the conclusion of a traditional opera production of "Carmen." "So, what happens is the curtain closes on the opera and that's when the ballet begins. The orchestra packs up and the violinist walks across the stage while one of the stagehands, a truck driver, is taking apart the scenery. And when they meet, they remember the drama of the opera and take upon themselves the characters of Carmen and Don Jose."

From there, the "Carmen" ballet begins.

"This is a story of love," Amodio said, "and another challenge was making the dancing express the theme without the libretti. The music we use is based on the Bizet score, but without any singing."

The score was arranged by Guiseppe Cali, who took some musical liberties with Bizet's original music. But, said Amodio, it was important for the production. "This way, the music doesn't interfere with the dancing. And I didn't want it to sound too big, because I wanted the dancing to be the dramatic focus of the production."

Ballet West artistic director Jonas Kge met Amodio in the early 1980s. "I was a guest dancer with Aterballetto," said Kage. "I didn't know him very well, but I got to see some of his works."

Unfortunately, "Carmen" was not one of them. "I saw it first on a video," Kge said. "And when I found out who the choreographer was, everything came together. The way the ballet was put together was interesting. And I thought for a long time about doing the ballet when the time was right."