Carlos Acosta's Carmen in rehearsal - World Ballet Day 2015

First Artist Matthew Ball rehearses Escamillo's solo from Carlos Acosta's Carmen with Assistant Choreographer Ivan Gil-Ortega and Senior Benesh Notator Anna Trevien, with Paul Stobart at the piano. Find out more at www.roh.org.uk/...
World Ballet Day on 1 October 2015 saw The Royal Ballet join The Australian Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada and San Francisco Ballet to provide exclusive rehearsal footage, a chance to see how the different companies warm up for the day and interviews with choreographers and leading figures in the dance world. In this extract from rehearsals, Royal Ballet First Artist Matthew Ball rehearses the role of Escamillo from Carlos Acosta's Carmen in front of an audience of students from The Royal Ballet School.
Georges Bizet’s Carmen is one of the most successful operas ever written. Its gorgeous melodies have secured the opera’s hold on the popular imagination - Escamillo’s Toreador Song, Carmen’s Habanera, Don José’s Flower Song and many passages for orchestra and chorus are among the most widely known pieces of Western classical music. This melodic richness, combined with a searingly dramatic story adapted from a novella by Prosper Mérimée, has made Carmen attractive bait for choreographers: figures as diverse as Marius Petipa, Roland Petit, Alberto Alonso, Mats Ek and Richard Alston have all been drawn to this tale of jealousy and desire.
Carlos Acosta, Principal Guest Artist of The Royal Ballet and one of the most famed dancers in the world, now presents his own adaptation of Bizet and Mérimée’s story. In his new version for The Royal Ballet, the story’s universal and timeless themes are laid bare in a sparse and powerful setting. Martin Yates, orchestrator for Don Quixote, provides an original adaptation of Bizet’s score, including onstage roles for the Royal Opera Chorus and a flamenco musician.