Boris Eifman’s ballet Anna Karenina, based on the novel by Leo Tolstoy, will be staged in Guangzhou in September, forming part of the 2019 Dance Festival presented by Guangzhou Opera House.

A stage photo of Boris Eifman’s ballet Anna Karenina [Photo: Guangzhou Opera House/By Souheil Michael Khoury]

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

According to Eifman, it is passion, the “basic instinct” which has led the heroine to breach the then current norms of social morality, killed the motherly love in Anna Karenina and destroyed her inner world. Eifman says that his ballet speaks not of previous times but of today: the timeless emotional content of the performance and obvious parallels to reality will not leave a contemporary audience indifferent.

A stage photo of Boris Eifman’s ballet Anna Karenina [Photo: Guangzhou Opera House]

Boris Eifman is one of the few, if not the only Russian choreographer who’s maintained an energetic and brilliant artistic life for several decades. He has created more than forty ballet performances, for which he was namedthe People’s Artist of Russia, the Laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation, the laureate of the Golden Mask and the Golden Soffit. He is also the holder of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, and various international prizes and titles.

The Saint Petersburg Eifman Ballet, established by Boris Eifman in 1977, was from day one recognized for its new and innovative conception of what ballet should be. It is renowned among ballet lovers around the world for such ballets as I, Don Quixote; Red Giselle, Russian Hamlet, Anna Karenina, The Seagull, Eugene Onegin, Rodin, Beyond Sin, Requiem and Tchaikovsky.

Synopsis

Anna Karenina meets the dashing young officer Count Vronsky at a high society ball in St. Petersburg. The second time they meet at the horse racing, they fall deeply in love. Anna’s life becomes difficult as rumours and gossip starts to spread about the Karenin’s relationship. After a confrontation, the married couple are reconciled, however, Anna later leaves her husband. 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. Whilst under the influence of opium, Anna is in the grip of her visions and fantasies. This final despair leads to her suicide.

Time: 7:30 pm, September 26-27, 2019

Venue: Opera Hall, Guangzhou Opera House

Ticket: RMB 180-880

Running time: 100 minutes (with a 15 minute intermission)

Note: Children under 1.2 meters aren’t allowed to attend.

Author: Monica Liu

Editor: Simon Haywood