Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina is intimidating; the tome is dense and complicated, but choreographer Boris Eifman’s ballet is decidedly more straightforward.
St. Petersburg Eifman Ballet returns to Toronto’s Sony Centre for the Performing Arts from April 23-25 for three performances of Anna Karenina. In it, Eifman focuses on the love triangle between three of the central characters: Anna, Vronsky and Karenin.
Eifman admits the play doesn’t try to cover the entire, complex plot of the book. “I was concerned about the tragic story of a woman who was killed by the strongest erotic dependence on the man,” Eifman said via email from Russia.
Eifman’s ballet looks at the tragic choice Anna faces between following her desires and staying true to her marital duties. “While working on the performance I was interested mainly in the eternal inner conflict splitting the soul and psyche of the heroine,” he writes.
Eifman, who was born in Siberia, started his company in 1977. Since then, he’s toured extensively, becoming renowned both in Russia and internationally for his choreographic style and often lavish productions, many of which are based on pieces of literature. Thanks to his unique approach to the classical dance form, some call his genre the “psychological ballet.” He also says he’s been called a “choreographer-psychoanalyst.” But Eifman doesn’t focus on these titles.
Instead, “the creative mission is important” to him. Part of that means developing a “ballet language” to deal with life’s complex philosophical issues. “One of the most important objectives for me,” he writes, “is to take dance back into the course of psychological theatre. To make psychologism not the exclusive privilege of the drama but a fundamental principle of choreographic art.”
Eifman’s Anna Karenina debuted 10 years ago. Since then, he hasn’t resisted the temptation to improve parts of it, making it more “harmonious and expressive.” The scenery has been updated and the new principal dancers bring with them their own interpretations of Eifman’s choreography.
Fans flock to Eifman’s shows and he sells out in many international theatres – when Eifman Ballet first came to Toronto in 2013, the company played to a full house. Eifman thinks that’s because dance is a universal language.
“A lot of things in this world today separate people, making them aggressive and intolerant to each other,” he writes. “A ballet brings people together and helps them to find a common ground. This is the main reason of our art’s success.”
Eifman however, doesn’t like to anticipate how patrons will interpret his ballets. “I cannot and do not want to predict the emotional reaction of the audience. It must be vivid, spontaneous,” he writes. “I hope that the audience will be able to empathize with the characters as sincerely as I empathize with them.” And with source material as rich and dramatic as Anna Karenina, that shouldn’t be too hard.
St. Petersburg Eifman Ballet’s Anna Karenina runs from April 23-25 at The Sony Centre for Performing Arts, 1 Front Street East. Tickets available at 1-855-872-SONY (7669)
or www.sonycentre.ca.
