about Carmen…who rolled cigars on her thighs..

"Article I came across in the newspaper:"
Posted by a Cigar Woman at C4W

In 1875, composer Georges Bizet’s reputation as the toast of Paris was firmly established and it was with justifiable confidence that he opened his latest production at the Opera Comique. His subject was Carmen, a rebellious gypsy tobacco factory worker in early 19th-century Seville who plays fast and loose with lovers and the law and finally pays with her life.

From these inauspicious beginnings, Carmen has become one of the most popular operas of all time. The story – based on a novel by Prosper Mérimée, which in turn is based on the real life of Carmen of Triana – has been adapted for stage, screen, ice and even an MTV Hip-Hopera, starring Destiny’s Child’s Beyonce Knowles. Ironically, the aggressive, selfish, freedom-loving whore of the novel has been transformed by changing cultural mores and a helping hand from Bizet, into the enduring symbol of exoticised and romanticised Spain. Today she stands as a feminist icon refreshingly unconstrained by stifling social convention.

"The cigar sellers’ way of life was revolutionary. These were women who were able to fend for themselves. They didn’t need a man – as a cigar seller, Carmen was a symbol of liberation in a very conservative society."

Tavora’s motivation was largely inspired by conversations with his great-great-grandmother (she died in 1948, aged 100), herself a cigar seller called Carmen: "Of all the stories I heard from my great-great-grandmother," , remembers Tavora, "there was one that always made me tingle. That was the story about the gypsy cigarrera, who was killed because of her love affair with a pecador. Carmen of Triana led all the uprisings against the social conventions of the time. It is these stories, engraved in my childhood memories, that urged me to reconsider the myth of Carmen."

Re-writing the story was a tall order and it has taken Tavora 30 years to bring his Carmen to the stage: "I wanted to re-write it all my life but it is so difficult. But Seville is where Carmen grew up and this is our Carmen. My great-great-grandmother was my idol and this production is a tribute to her dignity and her suffering as a cigar seller."

 and from there to here, An Article posted by

a Cigar Woman……

Beyonce as Carmen….

The story of Carmen….characteristics we share?

You Might be Interested