Carmen ballet (Hamburg)

-
I went to see the Ballet Teatro Espanol's flamenco production of Carmen playing at the Hamburgische Staatsoper. I expected to enjoy a Spanish take on the famous opera with whims of castanets and passionate boot stomps interspersed throughout singing. Well. There was no singing and no shortage of stomping (and clapping and angry whooping) to punctuate the non-existent singing. Flamenco, flamenco, flamenco...and only two minutes of castanets in the first act.

What transpired on stage in the second half of the show I do not know. I left at Intermission. Maybe if I'd stuffed aspirin tablets in my jacket pocket instead of crunchy almonds to snack on I might have had the nerves to stand the rest of that bull fighting bangy yelping cacophony. I didn't so I didn't.

The dancers were superb. I, however, did not anticipate nor desire to see a non-stop stomping production. They stomped my ass right out of there.