The triumph of the Kiev

The Kiev Modern Ballet Theatre's Bangkok debut on Sunday, "Carmen TV", was a bold and exuberant interpretation of a well-known tale.

In terms of drama and choreography, the new version demonstrated that there remains more to Verdi's opera than we could have imagined. Watching ballet in Bangkok has never been this much fun.

And the dancers proved to be more talented and robust actors than others we've seen from Eastern Europe, thanks in large part to the company's founder and artistic director, Radu Poklitaru, who has two criteria in choosing his cast.

"First, I look for those who are good at classical ballet," he told Daily Xpress. "Then I show them some choreography in which the dancer falls down, laughs, cries, etc.

"They have to be emotionally open. Techniques can be learned, but not this."

Tonight the Kiev company presents another work, "La Forza del Destino" ("The Force of Destiny"), which Poklitaru stressed is not the Verdi piece of the same title.

Strange juxtapositions

"I wasn't inspired by Verdi's opera, and the story's totally different. I used his overture, and the title, because it best reflects what's happening onstage.

"It's follows an opera singer from her first step onstage to her triumph and her fall. In the end it looks as though the steps of the staircase she's climbing are actually descending.

"It's a commissioned work," Poklitaru noted, "created even before the company was founded. There was a music album featuring classical bel canto singing juxtaposed with contemporary music, and it was suggested that I make a ballet based on it.

"After it premiered in December 2005, Vladimir Filippov, one of the patrons, said to me, 'Radu, let's not part - let's create a company!'"

 VIRTUAL VERDI

>> See "La Forza del Destino" tonight at 7.30 at the Thailand Cultural Centre. There are free shuttle buses from the nearby subway station between 5 and 7.

>>Seats cost Bt600 to Bt2,500 at www.ThaiTicketMajor and the door.

 >> On the Internet: www.KMBTheatre.com.