It is not common for two ballets to be combined in one program. The Boston Ballet, though, does not shy away from the unconventional. For their spring performance of Carmen, the company includes both Carmen and Kingdom of the Shades in their 100-minute show, broken up by an intermission. Audience members get to experience the delicately controlled choreography of Kingdom of the Shades and the passionate drama of Carmen during their time at the Citizens Bank Opera House.  

Jorma Elo, Boston Ballet’s resident choreographer, planned on staging his interpretation of Carmen, which the company first performed in 2006, once again in Spring 2020. However, this performance was unfortunately canceled due to the pandemic  

The most striking difference between the two ballets is the range of motion. Kingdom of the Shades begins with the procession of the shades — 24 dancers in identical white tutus emerging from the wings of the stage. Their movements are graceful, yet sharp, and seeing them all move in such synchrony is incredible. Once all 24 dancers are on stage, they arrange themselves in lines and slowly extend into arabesques. This dance requires extreme technical skill and seemed like a painstaking ordeal at times. The audience could hear the squeaking of the ballet shoes and the slight shaking as the corps de ballet  — the group of non-principal dancers performing as the shades — fought to keep their balance. One could only imagine the amount of preparation it took to perform such a notoriously difficult piece.