The Theatre Boris Eifman
BORIS EIFMAN is one of the few, if not the only Russian choreographer, who continued his active creative work for decades. Perhaps none of his contemporaries can take pride in such achievements. There are more than forty performances on the director’s account. He was the Laureate of the theatrical award of Saint-Petersburg “Golden Soffitto” five times, received the independent prize “Triumph”, the State Prize of Russia “For contribution in the development of modern arts”, the higher spiritual award of Russian children – the Order “Peace and Harmony”, the Order “Arts Cavalier of France”, the People’s Artist of Russia title and many other prizes and titles.
The choreographer was born in Siberia, finished a ballet college and the department of choreography of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) Conservatoire. In 1977 he organized Leningrad New Ballet (today called “Saint-Petersburg State Academic Ballet Theatre”), the only individually managed theatre in Russia, developing the art of modern choreography. He did not only create an original style, which absorbed the achievements of new time art and which is based on the classical school, but also brought up a team of kindred spirit, for whom no unsolvable tasks exist.
The diversity of genres in his repertoire is truly impressive: chamber ballets ("Autographs", "Metamorphoses"), ballets bouffe ("The Mad March Day or the Marriage of Figaro", "The Twelfth Night", "Love Plots"), ballets-parables ("Legend"), fairytale ballets ("Firebird", "Pinocchio"). His theatre also focuses on productions based on the classical works of the world literature. Eifman was the first who used Dostoevsky’s novels in ballet. His "Idiot" has become one of the highlights of the cultural life. It was followed by the "Duel" (adaptation of Kuprin’s novel), "Master and Margarita" (based on Bulgakov) and "Murderes" (based on Zola's novel "Therese Raquin"). Among his most recent works that have been already recognized worldwide are "Requiem", "Tchaikovsky", "Don Quixote, or Fantasies of a Madman", "The Karamazovs", "Red Giselle", "My Jerusalem", "The Russian Hamlet", "Don Juan or Moliere Passions", "WHO is WHO", "Musagete", "Anna Karenina", "The Seagull", "Onegin".
Boris Eifman is a choreographer-philosopher and thinker. He is concerned by the problems of the modern world. He is thrilled by the secrets of creativity and the magic of geniuses, which uncover themselves in his interpretation of the fates of Tchaikovsky, Spesivtseva and Moliere. He makes experiments with such dark and fearful sphere as human psyche (“Idiot”, “Murderers”, “Don Quixote or Fantasies of a Madman”, “Russian Hamlet” and “Anna Karenina”), creating the images of stage psychoanalysis. He strives for showing extreme states of human mind, regarding his heroes` madness not as an illness but as their ability to penetrate into another worlds. The choreographer pulls apart the limits of his imagination with the help of his heroes` fantasies, deepening in the questions of spiritual and philosophic life of humankind, which interest him most. The ballets “Russian Hamlet”, “Anna Karenina”, "The Seagull", "Onegin" are the examples of it.
Creating his own style Eifman worked at various dancing systems. The theatre became a kind of laboratory for him. The choreographer did not limit himself with the frames of a purely ballet performance, since the most important thing for him is theatricality. His plays are synthetic shows, revealing new forms and new principles of dancing action. Boris Eifman has created his theatre – a theatre of unconcealed emotional feelings.
Press about Boris Eifman
“Boris Eifman is undoubtedly the most interesting modern Russian choreographer. He has a magnetism of both his own personality and his constant desire for renewal”. (Le Figaro, 5th November, 1992).
“The ballet world in search of a major choreographer need search no more. He is Boris Eifman…" (Anna Kisselgoff, “The New York Times”. 10th April, 1998).
“Boris Eifman will remain one of the most creative artists of Russia”. (Anna Kisselgoff, “The New York Times”. 7th April 2003).
“There is no doubt any longer that the choreographer Boris Eifman is an amazing magician of the theatre. … Probably the only thing one can still have any doubts about is whether he is the last leading choreographer of the 20 century or the first choreographer of the 21st”. (Clive Barnes. New York Post. 28 January 1999).
“Eifman’s personal qualities are strength and unrestraint. His nervous “painful style is a cover for the most brilliant skills”. ( Le Figaro. 19 July 1988).
“Every new production of Boris Eifman is like a sudden waterfall of unrestricted imagination, wonderful plasticity and the most refined psychological insights”. (Boris Mazo, Delovoy Peterburg. 28 January 1997).
“The artists of Eifman’s theatre are phenomenal. Everybody from the soloists to the perfect corps de ballet. Amazingly skilful and flexible, they can equally purely and vividly perform the most incredible creation of the choreographer and any classical pas and are outstandingly expressive and musical”. (Maya Pritsker. Russian Daily – Novoye Russkoye Slovo. 17 April 1998).