Bodrum Ballet Festival continues with ‘Carmen,’ ‘Hamlet’ masterpieces

BODRUM

The 13th International Bodrum Ballet Festival is continuing to mesmerize the audience, with masterpiece plays such as “Carmen” and “Hamlet” yet to come at the historical Bodrum Castle.

Organized by the Directorate General of State Opera and Ballet, this year’s festival program has been very busy. Next up at the festival is “Carmen,” which will be performed by the Krasnoyarsk State Opera, with choreography by Sergey Bobrov, between July 24 and July 25. 

The performance will be followed by one of William Shakespeare’s masterpieces, “Hamlet.” The latest interpretation of the classic work was composed by Revaz Gabichvadze and will be performed by the Ankara State Opera and Ballet on July 28. 

The play was choreographed by Nugzar and Medeia Magalashvili. 

A graduate of Moscow State Ballet in 1973, Medeia Magalashvili is also the libretto of the show. For seven years he worked as a ballet teacher at Hacettepe University State Conservatory before being assigned as the head choreographer for the Mersin State Opera and Ballet. Having taken part in numerous shows, Medeia Magalashvili is now working at the Directorate of Ankara State Opera and Ballet.

Nuzgar Magalashvili graduated from Tbilisi State Ballet School in 1971 and has performed in many pieces as a soloist. She was also assigned as a ballet teacher at the Hacettepe State Conservatory for seven years and later worked as the head teacher at the Mersin State Opera and Ballet.

On the final nights of the festival, on July 31 and Aug. 1, “Los Vivancos,” the Spanish “Magic Mikes” of ballet, will take the stage and perform an epic flamenco dance for all dance lovers. A renowned group of seven brothers who learned how to dance before they learned how to read, will rock the stage with their show “Best of Los Vivancos.” 

Previously in the festival, the Antalya, İzmir, Mersin State Opera and Ballet companies performed “L’oiseu de Feu” and “La Sacre du Printemps” from Stravinsky. The former was choreographed by Volkan Ersoy and Armağan Davran, while the latter was choreographed by Mehmet Balkan. The final night of the performance was “Bolero” by Maurice Ravel, choreographed by Uğur Seyrek.

The festival proceeded with the performance “Rainbow” by the contemporary composers J.Adams, A. Noto, R. Sakamoto, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Batacuda ve Bob Downes, choreographed by Young Soon Hue,

Christopher D’amboise and Robert North and performed by the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet. 

All performances begin at 9:45 p.m.