Marina Vilchinskaia vilchinskaya_marin@mail.ru ON the evening of Oct. 26, an atmosphere of celebration and joy was created inside the Bay Opera of Shenzhen in Bao’an District. People gathered to experience such a delicate art as ballet. The ballet “Anna Karenina” was performed on the big stage by the Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg from Russia. The lively atmosphere, familiar faces in Shenzhen’s cultural circle, and some excitement before the show all set the tone for the audience’s mood. In addition to local Chinese audiences, there was a Russian audience member who came to see their native ballet. All the talk that night was about ballet, culture, and the novel “Anna Karenina,” which is well-known among the Chinese public. Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg Ballet is the language of dance, and without saying a word, you can say more to be understood and heard. Thanks to ballet dancers’ teamwork and their love for ballet, every time they danced and moved, they told us a story that cannot be forgotten. Artistic director Boris Eifman’s ballet is very different from classical dance. This is the new alphabet of movement. In “Anna Karenina,” Eifman removed all the minor characters, and thanks to this, we can better trace the love line of the main characters, the feelings of Karenina, and the psychological world of the characters. Prima ballerina The novel “Anna Karenina” is always relevant. This is a love story of a married woman, the experience of real feelings and emotions that the main character experiences, contrary to the attitudes of society. “Anna Karenina” personifies a woman’s image in every sense of the word, the revelation of her deep inner world, the experience of feelings, the desire for female happiness, and complete love. Maria Abashova, prima ballerina and honored artist of the Russian Federation, plays the titular role in the ballet. “It was not difficult to get used to the image of Anna Karenina. In some ways, I am like her, that I can’t lie,” she said. Abashova says that the “Anna Karenina” ballet is for every person. “This is a love story, and love is eternal, it has always been, and it will always be. “Every word is set in motion. We understand clearly what we must say with these movements, and what we must convey to the public. As Eifman himself says, it doesn’t matter who dances this performance; it is doomed to success.” Abashova added that the ballet’s “main thing is to motivate you to come, since I have so many times encountered spectators who said that they did not know how they lived before, without our theater. Ballet is a completely different art. Through our performances you can fall in love with ballet; these are the emotions you get after ballet.” Six-week tour in China On Oct. 26, the ballet troupe started their six-week tour of China, their first performance in the last four years. German Gureev, deputy director of the Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg, said that “It was a very long pause, and we missed our loyal audiences in China. We hope that we can win the hearts of new audiences.” He further added: “This time, with our partner, Wu Promotion, we brought ‘Anna Karenina,’ which was already a favorite in China over the past several tours. We are also debuting the Chinese ballet for ‘Eugene Onegin,’ which is staged by Eifman. We will continue to introduce the main plots of major classical Russian literary works to our Chinese audience, which have greatly inspired our choreographer.” In terms of the tour’s organization, Gureev noted their tour partner’s professionalism and high level of organization. He stressed that “We always know that in China, they are waiting for us, that everything will be fine, and that everything will be done in a high level. This is the key to our successes in China.” Love for Shenzhen When talking about Shenzhen, Gureev said that “This is our first time in Shenzhen. We are very happy to start this huge six-week tour in China in this city. We are already in love with the city, and it’s evident that it is very young, thriving, rapidly developing with modern architecture and planning, and it has many parks. Clearly, the city is thinking how to correctly expand and develop to make its citizens’ lives more comfortable.” | 