Carmen review: Unusually aware of its own stark violence, this ballet has a welcome edge

Minju Kang and Rentaro Nakaaki skip and swoop their way through this classic red-frilled tale of obsession

Minju Kang as Carmen and Sangeun Lee as Manuela in Johan Inger’s ‘Carmen’ (Laurent Liotardo)

English National Ballet’s new Carmen is stark and sleek, with some tough questions alongside the red-frilled dress and crimson lipstick. Choreographer Johan Inger can be heavy-handed about fate and destiny, but he’s always aware that people are making choices.

ENB’s production is the UK premiere of Inger’s ballet, created for Madrid’s Compañía Nacional de Danza in 2015. It’s a sign of how ENB is positioning itself under new director Aaron S Watkin: a balance of classical ballet, with a bigger dash of European contemporary dance. The company dive into Inger’s style with assurance.

There are plenty of Carmen ballets: Bizet’s heroine, and his music, are solid box office. But Inger’s stripped-back staging is unusually aware of the violence of the story. His Don José is very obviously controlling as well as smitten: it’s not just that Carmen is irresistible, but that José feels he has a right to possess her. In an art form that can be unthinking about its use of violent sexual imagery, Inger’s approach has a welcome edge.