Boris Eifman’s ballet Anna Karenina is a true burst of inner psychological energy and is amazingly precise in delivering emotional impact upon its viewers. By setting aside all secondary storylines in Leo Tolstoy’s novel, the choreographer focused on the love triangle “Anna – Karenin – Vronsky”.

 

Using dance language, Boris Eifman in his ballet managed to portray the drama of a woman being reborn. According to the choreographer, it is the love passion, the “basic instinct” which has led the heroine to the breach of the then current norms of social morality, killed motherly love in Anna Karenina and destroyed her inner world. Being so completely consumed and crushed by passion, a woman is ready for any sacrifice.

 

The choreographer says that his ballet speaks not of previous times but of today: the timeless emotional content of the performance and obvious parallels to reality can’t leave the contemporary viewer indifferent. The brilliant technical mastery of the Company’s dancers and Boris Eifman’s astounding choreography present to us in a remarkably impressive way all the aspects and peripeteias of the Tolstoy’s novel.

 

 

 

Act 1

 

The scene opens with Anna Karenina in the heart of her family in St. Petersburg.

At a high society ball, Anna meets a dashing young officer Count Vronsky.

In the Karenin household there is marital discord.

Anna and Vronsky meet again at the horse races, they fall deeply in love.

Anna’s life becomes difficult as gossip and rumours start to spread about the Karenins’ relationship.

At a long-awaited assignation passion overcomes the lovers’ rational thoughts.

After a confrontation with Karenin Anna is overcome with dark thoughts and premonitions.

The married couple makes a reconciliation.

 

Act 2

 

Vronsky is at his officers’ club.

Following a meeting at the Karenins’ home Anna leaves her husband.

At a Carnival in Venice. The affection between Anna and Vronsky begins to break down.

In St. Petersburg high society turns its back on Anna. She becomes shunned and isolated.

In an opium induced state of mind, Anna is in the grip of visions and fantasies.

Final despair. Anna’s suicide.

 

 

 

 

Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg was established by Boris Eifman in 1977 (the original name of the company was Leningrad New Ballet). The concept of the New Ballet was above and beyond innovative for its time: from the very beginning the vision was to develop it as an experimental laboratory, a ballet theatre of one choreographer.

 

The Company’s first performances, such as Two-Voice and Boomerang, had immediate success and prompted both strong interest of the audience and a lively discussion among ballet critics who recognised the development of a new trend in Russian ballet art. However, proponents of the traditional ballet school were rather reluctant to acknowledge the young choreographer’s influence. The novelty of Eifman’s approach to choice of literary basis and music for his productions, as well as the audacity of the body movement vocabulary earned him the reputation of a “dissident in choreography” that stayed with Eifman for a long time.

 

In the late 1970s – early 1980s the Company developed its own approach to shaping of the repertoire. The playbill included a growing number of productions based on the gems of classical literature. The choreographer worked with his company, noted for their dance intellect, to explore new genres. New productions: The Idiot, The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro, The Legend, Twelfth Night, or What You Will, The Duel, The Master and Margarita, The Murderers and others – were distinguished by strikingly sharp choreographic patterns which aimed to express the height of passion experienced by the ballets’ characters.

Today ballet enthusiasts in Europe, Asia, the Americas and Australia admire productions of the Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg: Red Giselle, Russian Hamlet, Anna Karenina, Eugene Onegin, Rodin, Her Eternal Idol, Beyond Sin, Requiem, Up & Down, Tchaikovsky. PRO et CONTRA, The Pygmalion Effect, Molière Passion, or The Mask of Don Juan, The Seagull. A Ballet Story. These widely acclaimed works not only represent the highest level of artistic achievement in Russian contemporary ballet but also introduce international audiences to the spiritual heritage of Russia and the best of world culture – the inspiration behind the work of the choreographer and his dancers. For several decades Eifman Ballet enjoyed success when performing in top venues across the globe. The Company’s ability to immerse their audiences into the boundless world of human passion, to build a strong spiritual bond, to amaze and sometimes overwhelm them by the intensity and energy of its plastique, defined and ensured its recognition.