There are few things in this entire world that I adore more than the sound of pointe shoes hitting a marley floor and incredibly muscular Russian men in tights. On Wednesday April 15, I had the pleasure of experiencing both of my favourite things at a performance of Anna Karenina presented by the Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg and Chanel. Based on the book of the same title by Leo Tolstoy, the ballet told the story of an adulterous bourgeois woman with fabulous taste in clothes who takes drugs and flings herself in front of a train. Now that’s my idea of a feel-good story. Taking a break from my Odwalla strawberry-banana smoothie-fueled finals prep in McLennan, I slipped on a pair of heels and hit the red carpet of the premiere night of the performance.
As I walked up the dimly lit corridor of Place des Arts leading up to the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, I was greeted by a throng of people and photographers surrounding the entrance. Models with long black jersey-knit dresses with crystal detailing around the neck and lacey masks stood on platforms at the bottom of the theatre’s grand staircase. I thought it was a little creepy, like one of those obscure Sodom and Gomorrah parties where people wear masks, but it was presented by Chanel, so c’est la vie.
Once inside, I grabbed the complementary signature cocktail of the evening. I have no clue what it was, but it was red, overly sweet, and reminded me of something that on of the ladies of Sex and the City would order.
After walking around aimlessly for about twenty minutes, I found my seat just as a newscaster-sounding voice told me to shut off my phone and enjoy the show. I could have started enjoying it a lot sooner had the buffoons who came late to the show not started yelling at me in French about what my seat number was. I was trying to watch the little kid in the sailor outfit who reminded me of Chuck and Blair’s kid in the Gossip Girl series finale play with a toy train. After that saga, I could actually get comfortable and enjoy the performance.
Immediately, I noted that the costuming was immaculate, however, part of me was a bit disappointed. It was my fault for watching the 2012 film Anna Karenina the day prior, which won an Academy Award for Best Costume Design. For the majority of the performance, I expected Jude Law and Keira Knightley to show up. (Spoiler alert: they did not.)
Despite my qualms with the lack of corsets, hoop skirts and sassy hats, the opening scene was a ball of some kind that Anna and her husband, Karenin, attend. It is here she meets her future lover (Wow, do I hate that word. My apologies.) the dashing Count Vronksy. Anna was in a beautiful black silk gown that rippled like a pool of water when she moved about the stage, through various battements and pirouettes. Anna and Vronsky saw one another and the score swelled as they performed a gorgeous pas de deux. The movement throughout was an intricate mixture of elements of both classical and modern ballet, which just contributed in weaving this tragic tale. I am always impressed by a choreographer’s ability, in this case Boris Eifman’s, to shape movement to tell a story.
After their initial meeting, Anna and Vronsky saw one another again at a horse race because that’s exactly what all people do in their spare time. Hang out at horse races. The male dancers were leaping around in ensembles that resembled Kanye West’s fashion presentation a few months back. I abhorred their un-pointed toes, but that was a stylistic decision for the scene, so I really cannot complain. Anna and Vronksy did another passionate pas de deux that practically ended with them in flagrante delicto in the middle of the crowd like a couple showing nasty PDA in the library. Before things got too far, Karenin, who has the hair of Jaime Lannister á la Game of Thrones season one, foiled their adulterous ways.
Anna, chilling in bed with a shimmering white gown (because why not) and still sick with thoughts of Vronsky, decided to throw on a chic black velvet cape and go see him. After a beautiful petite adagio, complete with ultra-interesting broken upper-body movements and stunning leg extensions (I swear that woman did not have bones), she bound off stage and into his arms.
She got there curiously fast. She must have taken an Uber. The chemistry between these dancers was so poignant. Seeing as she trusted him to hold her above his head while she was upside down in a gorgeous lift element, they had to have a strong relationship off stage as well. That being said, this got HBO again really quickly.
After her rendez-vous, she hopped an Uber back to Jaime Lannister-hair Karenin who was pacing back and forth in these fabulous black silk pajama pants. I wasn’t aware that they had La Perla in 1870s Russia. After a brief confrontation, the first act ended with Anna standing in the middle of her son’s toy train set, with snow falling around her. It was very creepy, but I appreciated the foreshadowing.
The second act began with ballet frat boys getting wasted and dancing with chairs. They were leaping around again with unpointed toes, but it was a brilliantly clever, bright number that I thoroughly enjoyed. The next piece featured Anna and her husband in an intense and disjointed pas de deux that starkly contrasted with the sensuality and ease of Anna and Vronsky’s partner work. She was in a beautiful burgundy dress as she danced wildly and decided to run off with Vronsky. It should be noted that although Anna had more costume changes than a contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race, the entire first act Anna was in black and white, and did not wear colour until the second act. It boldly represented her inner emotions as an unhappy wife at some times, and vibrant woman at others. That is first class Tom and Lorenzo’s Mad Style – costuming is such an essential element of a ballet and it is often taken for granted.
Cut to the breathtaking masquerade scene that contained a lot more classical elements of choreography. The costumes for this corps de ballet piece were to die for, coated with excessive amounts of gold, feathers, and beading that would make any Coachella goer envious.
Upon their return to St. Petersburg, everyone shunned Anna for foregoing her marriage for this affair, despite the fact that her purple gown was remarkable. This is when she decided to take opium and, subsequently, when the choreography went berserk. The exquisite Tchaikovsky score ceased and there was this really uncomfortable heavy breathing that took over as Anna started jerking around like the girl from The Exorcist. The stage quickly filled with the corps de ballet all in black and the sound of a train’s movement pumped through the theatre. Anna threw herself dramatically into the pile of dancers and the show ended with a man dragging her corpse off the tracks and snow lightly falling.
This ballet was a beautiful interpretation of an iconic story. The costumes were not only stunning, but also helped aid in understanding the emotions of the characters. Seeing a ballet always brings me such joy, and it was a much-needed break from my never-ending spiral of studying. The Eifman Ballet finished presenting Anna Karenina on Sunday April the 19th but for more information about Les Grands Ballets or other upcoming performances, click here.
Images obtained from: http://www.opera.fi/en/productions/eifman_anna_karenina/1484/5705, http…, http://teatroarcimboldi.it/event.php?id=305, and author’s own.