The Australian Ballet

Carmen

A seductive tale of betrayal and obsession

View performance times
  • Melbourne / Naarm

    7 – 18 March 2025

  • Canberra / Ngambri

    20 – 24 June 2025

  • Duration

    1 hour and 44 minutes / 1 Interval

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Principal Artist Jill Ogai

Photo Simon Eeles

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Principal Artists Jill Ogai and Marcus Morelli
Photo Simon Eeles

★★★★★
Johan Inger’s Carmen is yet another triumph for The Australian Ballet
- Limelight

★★★★½
Bodily gesture, emotion and staging find incredible synergy
- ArtsHub

Johan Inger’s award-winning production of Carmen is an exhilarating journey that thrusts Georges Bizet’s 19th-century opera into the modern world with a breathtaking display of athleticism and passion.

Created in 2015, Inger’s contemporary retelling of Prosper Mérimée’s 1845 novella is a darkly compelling story of the dangerously seductive Carmen, whose love affair with Don José ends in brutal tragedy. Broadening its gaze beyond its fiery heroine, Inger’s Carmen is seen through the eyes of a boy bewildered by the ugly manifestations of machismo.

Using Georges Bizet's famous score, Inger has reimagined the classic opera, transporting it to dance in a fascinating production. Including sublime passages for soloists and duos and ensemble sequences of consummate virtuosity, Carmen brings you the heat of southern Spain in a powerfully unique production.

David Hallberg's insight

"Johan's vision for this famous story is really unique. What I love is the reality of the emotions, and the grit of the movement. This is a Carmen for today's time.”

Carmen contains mature adult themes including sexual content and depictions of violence, that some people may find disturbing.

Carmen contains use of theatrical weapons.

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Principal Artist Jill Ogai

Photo Simon Eeles

Artist Jill Ogai dressed in a red dress pouts in a close shot of her face against a dark backdrop.

Principal Artist Jill Ogai
Photo Simon Eeles

3133495 TAB Carmen Inger Jill Ogai Artists of TAB Credit Daniel Boud

Principal Artist Jill Ogai and Artists of The Australian Ballet, Carmen (Inger) 2024
Photo Daniel Boud

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Lilla Harvey, Belle Urwin and Artists of The Australian Ballet, Carmen (Inger) 2024
Photo Daniel Boud

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Principal Artist Marcus Morelli with Lilla Harvey and Artists of The Australian Ballet, Carmen (Inger) 2024
Photo Daniel Boud

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Principal Artist Marcus Morelli, Carmen (Inger) 2024
Photo Daniel Boud

Carmen Act 1 Opening Night Side Stage Sydney BJ 51

Principal Artist Jill Ogai and Artists of The Australian Ballet, Carmen (Inger) 2024
Photo Brodie James

3133867 TAB Carmen Inger Jill Ogai Callum Linnane Credit Daniel Boud

Principal Artists Jill Ogai and Callum Linnane, Carmen (Inger) 2024
Photo Daniel Boud

Production credits

Choreography Johan Inger
Assistant choreographers Toby Mallitt, Javier Rodríguez Cobos and Urtzi Aranburu
Dramaturg Gregor Acuña-Pohl
Music Rodion Shchedrin, after Georges Bizet, "Carmen Suite"
Georges Bizet, orchestrated by Álvaro Domínguez Vázquez, "Overture" and "Danse Bohème"
Additional original music Marc Álvarez

These performances of “Carmen Suite” by Georges Bizet (arranged by Rodion Shchredrin) are given by arrangement with Origin Theatrical Pty Ltd, exclusive agents Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd of London

Lighting design Tom Visser
Set design
Curt Allen Wilmer and Leticia Gañán (aapee) with Estudio DeDos
Costume design David Delfín
Costume design associate Maria Luisa Ramos

World première 9 April 2015, Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid, Spain, Compaňia Nacional de Danza Madrid

Music

Melbourne
With Orchestra Victoria

Canberra
With Canberra Symphony Orchestra

Season 2025

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Artist Marcus Morelli dressed in a white shirt with sleeves rolled up, embraces Jill Ogai in a red dress intimately.

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