The Brothers Karamazov: “Stunning”, Opera House, 26 November

Dramatic, dangerous and exceedingly visceral, this famous Russian novel by Dostoyevsky has been distilled from its complicated plot and subplots into a recognizable series of human and political themes for purposes of the stage. And, there are few themes not touched upon by the intense Russian choreographer, Boris Eifman who directs a company bearing his name in St. Petersburg.

The Hungarian Opera House stage explodes with visual images derived of exceptional imagination and stagecraft coupled with a steady stream of extraordinary athleticism by the Hungarian National Ballet Company. Hungarian men fill the stage and explode with the sort of emotion, athleticism and aerials usually reserved for film. There are no retakes on the stage and it underlines a certain consistency rarely seen in other milieus. These dancers, nor the ballet, will be soon forgotten for lack of detail. The Brothers Karamazov is a testament to the theatre experience.

“The style is very different from what the Hungarian dancers and public is used to but it is highly spectacular” explains Gábor Keveházi, Artistic Director. “There are few choreographers today in the world who can and do make full evening ballets even though it is evident that audiences favor these large productions, with an emphasis upon full storied works, against one act pieces.”

Beware: this is not typical classical fare although anyone less than the highest trained classical dancer could ever hope to be able to perform Eifman’s creation. It is, in a word, stunning. The male dancers of the Hungarian National Ballet are able to demonstrate a depth and scope of talent with their tradmark theatrical acumen that shouldn’t be missed.

“I met Boris Eifman, then a young choreographer, at the beginning of his career in St. Petersburg in the 70s, when it was still Leningrad. Seeing this ballet approximately ten years ago, I thought that it was something to bring to Hungary. If only, I thought, I had the dancers in HNBC to be able to stage it! Finally, the time has come when we have not only one but three outstanding casts for the roles. Last year, with La Bayadere and the Balanchine evenings, we provided our female dancers with great professional opportunities. This year, it is the male dancer’s turn” explains Keveházi when asked about the male dominated production.

The conceptual perspective is best described in the words of the famous choreographer who has been in residence for weeks as he prepares and oversees the requisite staging, details and technical nuances that have made his works internationally renowned.

“ I believe that contemporary ballet has to have its own way of development in the 21st century, with the traditions of the classical, ’theatrical’ theatre kept in place. Against some of the modern trends, I believe that ballet has to stay within the THEATRE as a theatrical genre.

By my experience, the audience is open to ballets that convey emotions, human relationships and personal philosophies via body language all over the world which tells us that these pieces have something universal to say.

My Karamazovs is not an illustration to the book, rather an independent interpretation using body movement as opposed to verbal tools, to express human feelings, family relationships, fate, and the question of a tragic heritage and the fight of setting ourselves free from it, which was painfully actual at the time of creating the ballet around the perestroika while I believe that these are topics which are universal and rooted in the past, having an effect on the present, and living forever in the future.”

All that being said, The Brothers Karamazov by Boris Eifman is a not to be missed theatrical experience.

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Source: opera.hu