Carmen

Bizet's Carmen, one of the most popular operas of all time, has been adapted for the silver screen, the stage, a flamenco dance piece, and here as a modern ballet. Zizi Jeanmaire stars as the exotic gypsy who seduces and abandons Don Jose' (Mikhail Baryshinikov), the army officer who becomes infatuated with her. French choreographer Roland Petit has done a creditable job of transferring the story to dance, and the two leads are both sensuous and explosive. In fact, it is the sheer power of the performances which outweighs a couple of minor distractions in this video version: the first being the occasional blurring of the red backgrounds, the second being the unusual choice of Jeanmaire in the lead. Traditionally portrayed with a Spanish flavor, Carmen suffers somewhat from Jeanmaire being a bit too old for the part and the fact that she wears her hair in a French page boy style--not exactly the image of the hot-blooded, long-maned Carmen of tradition. These small drawbacks aside, Carmen is a good choice for public libraries. Recommended. (Available from most distributors.)