Acosta Danza, Carmen, Sadler's Wells

It's fair to say that Carlos Acosta's ambitious version of Carmen, which he created for The Royal Ballet as a parting gift prior to his retirement in 2015, was far from a resounding success; and The Royal has since quietly shelved it.

However, like so many before him the Cuban superstar seems to have fallen under the spell of the freedom-loving, reckless gypsy heroine on Bizet's opera (and the Prosper Mérimé novella which inspired it); and far from abandoning a problematic project, he has been reworking it.

A small-scale version was seen at the Royal Albert Hall in 2018 as part of the celebrations of Carlos Acosta's 30 years in dance; it was shorter and tauter than the original, though not without its problems, but Acosta Danza, led by the impressive Laura Rodriguez as Carmen, gave it their all. In that performance Acosta himself danced the role of the bullfighter Escamillo.

Now we're promised yet a new version, different enough for its residency at Sadler's Wells in July to be billed as a UK premiere. Brought by Acosta Danza, it will feature invited guests from Birmingham Royal Ballet, where Acosta is now artistic director: Yaoqian Shang, Javier Rojas and Lachlan Monaghan. They will perform the roles, respectively of Carmen, Don José and Escamllo, alternating with Acosta Danza pirincipals Laura Rodriguez, Enrique Corrales and Alejandro Silva.

Carlos Acosta himself, now 51 but still dancing carefully chosen roles, will perform as The Bull, a figure drawn from Spanish culture, which hovers menacingly over proceedings symbolising inexorable fate and destiny.

Acosta's Carmen, presented as part of Sadler's Wells's Ballet with Attitude programme, is danced to Rodion Shchedrin's 'Carmen Suite' adapted from the immensely popular score of Bizet's opera.