Katarina Witt in Carmen On Ice (Habanera)

Twice Olympic gold medalist German figure skater Katarina Witt’s exceptional performance with Habanera in Carmen on Ice, a 1990 dance film with choreography for figure skaters made in Germany. The music of the film is based on Georges Bizet’s 1875 opera Carmen, in an orchestral version arranged especially for this film.

Katarina Witt’s exceptional performance with Habanera in Carmen on Ice, a 1990 dance film with choreography for figure skaters made in Germany

Carmen On Ice

The 1990 movie is considered an innovation in the history of figure skating. There is no spoken dialogue in Carmen on Ice. The story of the film is very similar to the opera Carmen. Analogous to the four-act opera libretto the screenplay has four parts.

It was filmed in Spain and Germany, and the citizens of Sevilla and Berlin played bit parts. The film was directed by Horant H. Hohlfeld, produced by Thomas Bürger, and written by Horant H. Hohlfeld. Orchestral arrangements are made by Bert Grund (1920-1992), the German film composer.

One of the most famous arias of Carmen, Habanera is the popular name for “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” (“Love is a rebellious bird”). It is the entrance aria of the title character, a mezzo-soprano role, in scene 5 of the first act.