Boris Eifman's theater: repertoire and reviews

St. Petersburg Academic Ballet Theater of Boris Eifman - this is the official name of the phenomenon, born in 1977 and became a phenomenon for those times unique. However, there were some difficulties. The author's theater of one choreographer, just like the author's cinema, could hardly exist in Soviet reality. However, it arose in spite of all obstacles. And from that moment the history of the new ballet art began. Not having constant rehearsal points and props, with a small troupe of enthusiasts, which at first was called simply an ensemble of ballet, Eifman managed to achieve with the first performance what the recognized directors had been taking for many years.

The ballet "Dvuhgolosie" is still remembered in the theater as a real shock. Then followed other performances aimed at the youth audience. Bold choreographic decisions, free from cliches, were accompanied by music by Pink Floyd, D. McLaughlin, Gershwin, Schnittke, which led to a dissident aura around the figure of the choreographer. And this attracted to the theater of Boris Eifman broad masses of viewers, who were indifferent to the art of ballet.

Features of Eifman's choreography

Thanks to the innate sense of movement and the instinct for writing, Boris Eifman created a completely new dance style, which in the foreign press was called "the ballet of the future" more than once. The combination of avant-garde plastic techniques with the traditions of Russian classics, on which the choreographer grew, is a resounding success. It's not just a ballet - it's a mix of free dance, classics and Dionysian mysteries, history and modernity ... The theater for Eifman is not just a place to work. This is the main thing of his life, to which the director treats with the corresponding seriousness. "This is my earthly destiny," says Boris Eifman.

Plots and ideas

Recognizable subjects - a business card, which for many years managed to acquire the theater of Boris Eifman. Most of his productions are plot-oriented, and often the basis of the ballet is literary works and biographies of people of art. Eifman treats familiar stories in a new way, and they open up to the viewer from a completely unexpected side. "Anna Karenina", "Eugene Onegin", "Don Quixote", "The Brothers Karamazov" (ballet "On the Other Side of Sin") - the artist blows the frames of acquaintances from the school bench, tearing himself into the unknown, transforming the textbook plot into a modernist work of art . His ballets tell us about today, not about the past.

Choreographer-psychoanalyst

With his psychological psychology Eifman takes up the treatment of biographies of genius creators and simply outstanding historical figures. Ballets based on the life of Tchaikovsky, Rodin, the ballerina Olga Spesivtseva ("Red Giselle"), Paul the First. Archetypal traits of heroes are pulled out and often are elevated to the absolute. The artist explores the problems of power and humanity, struggle and submission, conducts surreal experiments, erecting elements of everyday life in the rank of high art. Every time Eifman addresses himself in his ballets to the current of life itself - the concept of "art for art" is alien to him. Boris Eifman is called a choreographer-philosopher and even a choreographer-psychoanalyst - so he dissects outbursts of the human soul, transforming them into body movements.

Repertoire

For the years of its existence, the ballet theater of Boris Eifman presented to the public more than forty productions. It is worth mentioning about some of them, which have become the most significant steps of the artist's creative development.

• 1997 - "Red Giselle" - a ballet that perpetuated the tragic history of Russian ballerina Olga Spesivtseva, dragged into the vortex of revolutionary terror and passed through the loneliness of emigration. The performance is characterized by an unusually expressive expressive plastic. Eifman notes the importance of this ballet in his creative ascent.
• 1998 - "My Jerusalem" - a theatrical event, touching the eternal themes of human existence. Unlike most Eiffman productions, ballet does not have a clear story line. The spectator notes that his feature is that he uses modern techno music (Jewish, Christian, Muslim religious), as well as ethno music and excerpts from Mozart.
• 2005 - "Anna Karenina" to the music of Tchaikovsky. The ballet is focused only on one storyline of the novel - a love triangle, which, in the opinion of the theater-goers, allowed Eifman to achieve maximum psychologism and powerful emotional impact.

• 2011 - "Rodin" - a large-scale statement about the tragedy of the fate of geniuses, about what was sacrificed for the sake of creating great masterpieces. Again and again Eifman refers to the struggle, despair and insanity still waiting for many people of art. Revived stone, petrified flesh - all mixed up on the stage of the theater.
• 2014 - "Requiem" (music by Mozart and Shostakovich). This is another atypical ballet for the choreographer, which was created in two stages. One act was delivered in 1991. He represented a philosophical reflection on human life to the music of Mozart. But twenty-three years later Eifman returned to the ballet, adding to it one more act - the dedication of AA Akhmatova. The premiere of the renewed ballet was timed to coincide with the celebration of the anniversary of the liberation of Leningrad - a holiday marking the victory of life over death.
• 2015 - Up & Down - the plastic interpretation of F. Fitzgerald's novel "The Night is Tender". It was in this setting that Eifman's psychoanalytic talent reached its peak. Original surrealistic solutions pull out their fears and manias from the depths of the hero's subconscious, and all this against the backdrop of brilliant jazz arrangements.
• 2016 - "Tchaikovsky. PRO et CONTRA »is the result of many years of creative comprehension of the composer's personality. A complex narrative storyline conveys Tchaikovsky's death memories, his whole life sweeps before the viewer's eyes.

Reviews

Everyone who was fortunate enough to be in Eifman's ballet is simply delighted with him. The audience notes that "Red Giselle" (the updated version of 2015) is something completely new and previously unprecedented. Plastic interpretation of the tragedy and revolutionary terror is amazing, the characters' characters are incredibly alive, they can be loved and hated all the time until the show ends and the hall does not turn on the light. No one who has been to Eifman's ballet will remain indifferent to him, as testimonials in the press and the impressions of many spectators testify.

Tour

These performances are by no means limited to the rich repertoire of Boris Eifman's theater. In St. Petersburg, at the Alexandrinsky Theater, as well as in many cities around the world, the productions of previous years are repeated many times, and they have not lost their psychological impact. The language of plasticity of the body is international. Efman's innovative productions were appreciated beyond the borders of Russia. A significant part of the year the company conducts on tours abroad. A day for theatergoers in St. Petersburg is the day when Boris Eifman's theater returns to the city. Reviews of the performances go the most enthusiastic, and tickets are sold out long before the day of the play.

Academy of Dance

The side streets of the Petrograd side hide from the prying eyes a real treasure - inside the small modest building is the Boris Eifman Dance Academy, an educational institution comprehensively preparing professional ballet dancers. Students say that this is not just a school - it's a creative laboratory that realizes the concept of modern Eifman dance. During the author's training young talents are not only physical, but also spiritual training. The result is not just an excellent dancer, but a well-rounded harmonious personality, capable of original creative solutions. Many of the former students continue their work with the master, taking a place in Boris Eifman's theater, which are answered only in a positive way. It should be noted that children are admitted to the academy from the age of seven, training is free of charge.

Dance of the future

Now the theater of ballet under the direction of Boris Eifman is recognized not only in the artistic environment, it is rightly respected by all. Eifman is a brilliant artist of our time. Who knows, maybe in the future he himself will take a worthy place in the succession of great creators, and another brilliant choreographer will stage a ballet about his creative path in this wonderful world.