From sultry to raunchy as Carmen

By BERNADETTE RAE

Forget Carmen as a sultry Spaniard. Think raunchy Rio de Janeiro. Imagine the famous toreador song from Bizet's opera as a rampant guitar riff - and the traditional toreador in question, one Escamillo, reassigned as a rock star.

These are the stunning new parameters of choreographer Didy Veldman's version of the passionate classic, on tour with the Royal New Zealand Ballet and opening in Auckland this week and Napier on December 12.

Needless to say, there is not a single tutu or pointe shoe in sight.

For Nadine Tyson, one of three dancers performing the role of Carmen in alternate casts, it has been great to be off pointes but the alternative has been tough on bare feet, and she has sustained "loads of bruises".

The women in this Carmen dance barefoot throughout, except for one scene in the second act when they don stilettos and their sexiest gear for a Saturday night on the town.

For Tyson a subsequent bedroom scene with lover Jose (Craig Lord) was another challenge. "I am not used to getting that much skin out," she says.

Finding the required black lace bra when every colour except black seems to be in vogue was a different sort of challenge. It involved visits to every lingerie counter in Wellington to find the model that could provide the right amount of security while dancing, without losing the necessary allure.

And Tyson's description of the role as "earthy" takes on new depths of meaning when she describes target practice in spitting. Carmen announces she's over it to Jose in Act II with a feral, projectile hiss. "It took a lot of practice to get his face instead of his crotch," she confesses, and adds, "Carmen is such a cool character to play - it is a rare chance."

Tyson and the company have enjoyed Veldman's style and surprised the Dutch-born choreographer and themselves with their ability to adapt to her unusual demands in technique and dramatic aptitude.

Brazilian choreologist Tatiana Novaes Coelho arrived in New Zealand to work with the cast ahead of Veldman, teaching the repertoire. When Veldman arrived, 10 days before the ballet opened in Wellington, she was delighted at the way the company had entered the spirit and passion of the work and began to change the original, tailoring it to the New Zealand dancers.

Tyson found the process of working with Veldman "awesome".

"I was soaking up what she had to say, like a sponge," she says.

"One important thing she taught me was how to avoid pulling my usual faces, to stay with the Carmen character who is such a free spirit, so sure of herself in any situation and used to getting exactly what she wants and so beautiful that all men just adore her.

"And she knows exactly how to use that in any situation to her own advantage.

"It was really hard not to forget and pull bad 'Nadine' faces."

Auckland-born Tyson was introduced to Herald readers in 1996 as the subject of a story tracing a day in the life of a Royal New Zealand Ballet dancer. She was 23 and just 18 months into her first job after graduating from dance school.

Now married to Andrew Lees, the company's technical stage manager, she has several major roles behind her - in Protecting Veils, created by the Sydney Dance Company; as the most memorable Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland; and in Raymonda and La Sylphide.

In 1997 she was named ECNZ Dancer of the Year. A six-week study tour in Europe - "the most amazing six weeks" - only confirmed to her that she truly enjoyed working with the RNZB, for the extensive repertoire the company covers and its sense of family and friendliness.

"We have wonderful people coming here to work with the company," she says. "It more than makes up for us being so far away."

Footnote: The guitar version of the toreador song, described by conductor Gavin Sutherland as "scuzzy and discordant", is a rare departure from the traditional Bizet in the ballet score.

The opera music was adapted for the original production of this Carmen by the Northern Ballet Theatre - also responsible for Dracula and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, productions performed successfully here by that company's head of music John Longstaff.

Sutherland is a former colleague and student of Longstaff and at just 30 has an impressive CV and an established reputation as a great musician for dancers, as an accompanist and conductor.

"Bizet is sometimes dismissed as being tuneful and not much else," he says. "But his music still holds up within its original form - you still get every beat of the story through the music, without a single word."

* Carmen, Aotea Centre, featuring the Auckland Philharmonia, December 4-8; Napier Municipal Theatre, December 12-14.