Artem Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Eifman Ballet goes on a tour to Europe with a new production Up & Down St. Petersburg Eifman Ballet is preparing for a European tour with the ballet Up & Down. The production will be performed for the first time ever in Paris on February 9, 10 and 11. On February 14 and 15 the Slovak premiere of the performance will be held in Bratislava. The Company’s tour is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. The premiere of Up & Down took place on January 27 and 28, 2015 at the Alexandrinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. A new work of Boris Eifman created a furor among connoisseurs of the ballet art: after the end of the performance the full house exploded with ovations and did not let the dancers and creators of the production go from the stage. “It can be arguable that: a national, and perhaps the world ballet has not done things like that before – the subconscious is described by the language of choreography... There is no applause – just ovations,” – wrote a columnist of Moskovsky Komsomolets Marina Raikina. The European premiere of Up & Down will be held at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, where the Company has performed many times. In particular, in December 2010, the ballet Anna Karenina was successfully performed on this venue. The performances marked the closing of the France – Russia Year. In March 2013 the French premiere of the ballet Rodin at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées has been greeted with great eclat. Critics highly praised the performance, having noted “expressive choreography” and “powerful dramaturgy”. Boris Eifman admits himself that he is looking forward to see the Parisian audience. “The tour in the French capital is always a momentous event for our theatre. I hope that the ballet Up & Down, where a psychoanalysis and psychological art of ballet fused, will be welcomed with open arms by the Parisian spectators.” After touring in France the Company will go to Bratislava, where it will present the new ballet at the Slovak National Theatre. This venue is also well known to the Eifman Ballet dancers: in October 2014 the Slovak premiere of Rodin took place there. The performance about the French sculptor was enthusiastically greeted by the audience and media outlets. On March 9 and 10 Up & Down will premiere in Riga. In May and June the American audience will be able to appreciate Boris Eifman’s new work making the auditorium feel the enchanting atmosphere of the Jazz Age. The performances will take place on the stages of Chicago, New York and Costa Mesa. UP & DOWN A ballet by Boris Eifman Music: George Gershwin, Franz Schubert, Alban Berg Sets: Zinovy Margolin Costumes: Olga Shaishmelashvili Light: Gleb Filshtinsky, Boris Eifman Boris Eifman is justly called a “choreographer-philosopher”. However, a much more subtle definition that accurately captures the aesthetic individuality of the Maestro would be a “choreographer-psychoanalyst”. Rightly believing that ballet tools open truly unlimited research opportunities before a dance creator, Eifman plunges into the unknown depths of his characters’ inner worlds and penetrates into the most hidden places of the subconscious. The quintessence of the choreographer’s psychoanalytic research has become the ballet Up & Down. The semantic space of the performance encompassed between two oppositely directed vectors of the plot (the degradation of the talented young doctor and the ascension of his wife and patient), is turned into a field for surrealistic experiments. With the help of the original plastic vocabulary Eifman depicts the disintegration of characters’ consciousness, bringing their nightmares and delusions to the surface. The choreographer emphasizes rather ironically: the ballet Up & Down is not just a full point but a blot in his many years of psychiatric ballet epic. The characters’ ups and downs take place in the magnificent Jazz Age – the unstoppable feast of life; the era of freedom, sensuality, and hedonism, masterfully recreated by Boris Eifman and his dancers. “Our fate is woven of cruel ironies. Wealth can be more unbearable than the most terrible poverty, and a clear and sharp mind is vulnerable to the chaos of the unconscious. The ballet Up & Down is a tragic and bright chronicle of a person’s spiritual death. The story about how a dream of happiness turns into a disaster, and an externally beautiful and carefree life flowing to the rhythms of jazz – into a nightmare. The ballet’s main character – a charming socialite and talented psychiatrist – has everything to realize his gift and make a great academic career. However, in the world enslaved by money and dark instincts a true harmony is impossible. The kingdom of luxury, in which the doctor immerses, turns out a perilous morass. An attempt to find a balance between his inner world and reality goes into collapse. Concession after concession – and the character loses his identity, actually leaving the profession and becoming a nurse for his half-mad wife. His mind, charisma, and career fall into pieces. Having lost everything, the doctor becomes an outcast in the society where there is no place for the weak. A person that forgets his mission and destroys his talent is doomed, and a compromise with the treacherous world full of temptations is always wrecking. The ballet Up & Down is to remind of the fatal consequences of a man betraying himself.” Boris Eifman Link to comment
Jayne Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Are they bringing this to the US on their 2015 tour? Link to comment
abatt Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Yes, it is coming to New York City Center in May. I don't know what other US cities are on the tour. Link to comment
Amour Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 I've never seen the Eifman Ballet live but have heard some of the choreography is horrid. Anyone know anything about "Up and Down"? Link to comment
abatt Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 No offense to Artem, who appears to work for the Eifman company, but my opinion of the Eifman company is that most of the choreography often is horrid. I'm waiting for the reviews from the Paris press on Up and Down before I decide whether to buy tickets to this. (It will be debuting in Paris this month.) I've been very disappointed with Eifman's choreography in the past. His niche is "psychological" exploration of characters. He uses a lot of fully stretched out and contorted positions for the dancers to convey psychological turbulence. This starts to become mind numbing after a few minutes. Link to comment
Artem Posted February 13, 2015 Author Share Posted February 13, 2015 Dear Jayne, Eifman ballet will come to USA with two performanses: "Up & Down" and "Rodin" Link to comment
Artem Posted February 13, 2015 Author Share Posted February 13, 2015 Dear Amour, You can find some information about Up & Down, in this group: http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/forum/315-eifman-ballet/ I collected some photos and reviews about the premiere Link to comment
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