April 06, 2005 -

OTTAWA -- Embarking on their first tour of Canada, Eifman Ballet Theatre performs their highly acclaimed production of La Giselle Rouge in Southam Hall of the National Arts Centre on Friday, April 15 at 20:00. La Giselle Rouge is a marvel of stagecraft and a showcase for the acrobatic classicism and dramatic choreography of Boris Eifman. Set against the brutal backdrop of 1930’s Soviet artistic oppression, La Giselle Rouge charts the rise and fall of Olga Spessivtseva, a gifted, doomed Russian ballerina  -- generally considered one of the greatest Giselles of all time – who was forced into exile and eventual madness by her art and by society. This theatrical tour de force has sumptuous sets and costumes, a dazzling visual style, and a marvelous score by Adolphe Adam, Georges Bizet, Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Alfred Schnittke.

This performance by Eifman Ballet Theatre is part of the NAC’s Dance Series A, which is generously sponsored by Casino du Lac-Leamy.

La Giselle Rouge is a tribute to Olga Spessivtseva, one of the greatest ballerinas of the twentieth century, who spent the last 20 years of her life in a mental clinic near New York. Dragged into the bloodshed of revolutionary Petrograd, Spessivtseva defected to London and Paris, but a mental breakdown led to her early retirement and eventually to an asylum; friends took her to live in a nursing home, where she died in 1991. She became universally identified with her most famous role, Giselle, the peasant girl who goes mad after her aristocratic lover betrays her. In this stylised tragedy ballet, Boris Eifman draws parallels between the story of Giselle and the life of the ballerina who inhabited the role. The dark emotionalism is archetypal Eifman, the drama gaining full force from his signature fusion of classical ballet with modern choreography: a flagrant use of the colour red links communism with revolutionary bloodshed, and in one scene his ballerina dances with a severed head, a symbol of both her dead lover and the doomed loves which led to the chaotic collapse of her internal world.

Boris Eifman is not the first choreographer in Russia to explore philosophical issues through emotional depth and theatricality. But, as Anna Kisselgoff wrote in The New York Times, though he may not be the first, “He is arguably the best.” Boris Eifman says “I was astonished when I learned about Olga Spessivtseva’s life: a unique actress, fortune’s darling, adored by fans and critics, spent twenty years in a mental clinic, left absolutely alone and without rights. The emotions that overwhelmed me became the impulse for the creation of this ballet. This is not an illustration of Spessivtseva’s biography, but rather an attempt to generalize her fate and the fates of many other talents forced to leave Russia to face a tragic end. Spessivtseva’s Giselle was a work of genius. The ballerina had moved so deeply into the world of her heroine that she did not have the strength to return to real life: Giselle’s fate became her own. Yet another factor played a fateful role in Spessivtseva’s life: while a prima ballerina, she was drawn into the bloody events of revolutionary Petrograd, and that red sign, like a sign of destiny, pursued and tormented her for the rest of her life. Emigration not only brought creative and personal disillusionment, but filled her life with even more suffering that eventually led to catastrophe. In creating this work, we wanted the ballet world to pay tribute to Olga Spessivtseva, a great ballerina whose fate was tragic.”

“With exuberant theatricality, boldly expressive movement, and extraordinary dancing actors, [La Giselle Rouge] was a jolt of fresh energy.”

“It is a rousing good evening in the theatre … spectacular lifts, slides and rolls on the floor and emotional angst. The corps dances a terrific, dominant role, displaying stylistic versatility.  Major effects served up to dazzle … fascinating theatrical devices. Eifman delivers quite a theatrical tour de force.”

“My surprise was unlimited when I met Spessivtseva, finer and purer creator still than Pavlova, and that's going a bit far”

Eifman Ballet Theatre performs La Giselle Rouge in Southam Hall of the National Arts Centre on Friday, April 15, 2005 at 20:00. Tickets are $50, $46.50 and $37, and $26, $24.25 and $19.50 for students (upon presentation of a valid student ID card). Tickets are available at the NAC Box Office (in person) and through Ticketmaster (with surcharges) at (613) 755-1111; Ticketmaster may also be accessed through the NAC’s web-site at www.nac-cna.ca. Last-minute tickets (subject to availability) for full-time students are $9.50 at the Live Rush Centre in the NAC Foyer after 18:00 on the day of performance only, upon presentation of a valid `Live Rush’ card. Groups of 20 or more save up to 20% off regular priced tickets; for reservations, call (613) 947-7000 x384 or toll free 1-866-850-2787, x384 or e-mail grp@nac-cna.ca

Photos for all dance events can be viewed and downloaded at: www.nac-cna.ca/media/

Information:
Gerald Morris
Marketing and Media Relations, NAC Dance Department
(613) 947-7000, ext. 249
gmorris@nac-cna.ca

BORIS EIFMAN and EIFMAN BALLET THEATRE
Noted by The New York Times as today's "most successful Russian choreographer," Boris Eifman is a major figure in modern ballet, garnering recognition and numerous awards for choreography and lifetime achievement. Eifman began his choreographic career at the Leningrad Conservatory in 1966. In 1970, he premiered his widely acclaimed ballet Icarus and became the official choreographer of the Vaganova Academy, the official school of Kirov Ballet; he also choreographed numerous television programs and ice shows. In 1972, Eifman choreographed Gaianeh for the Maly Opera and Ballet Theatre, which also resulted in a widely popular film version. In 1975, he choreographed Firebird for the Kirov Ballet. Founded in 1977, Eifman Ballet Theater revolutionized classical dance in Russia. Eifman created a new type of dancer/actor who used the solid foundation of impeccable classical ballet training as a launching pad for innovative, modern choreography. The company’s unique style fuses avant-garde dance with the methods of 20th century theatre and film, using all aspects of a theatrical production to create a richly multi-dimensional experience. Eifman Ballet constantly toured Russia, performing to sold-out houses -- despite the pressure for Eifman to leave the country for not making "Soviet art”. Unable to tour internationally for political reasons, Eifman Ballet finally performed in Paris in 1988 and subsequently throughout Europe, Japan, South Korea, South Africa, Israel, and Latin America. The life and work of Boris Eifman were depicted in a 1991 feature film, Eifman: The Man Who Dared and in a 1998 documentary entitled The Triumph at Bolshoi. Since 1993, Eifman has created a series of full-length productions: Tchaikovsky (1993), The Karamazovs (1995), La Giselle Rouge (1997), Requiem and My Jerusalem (1998), Russian Hamlet: The Son of Catherine the Great (1999), and Don Juan (2000).

OLGA SPESSIVTSEVA (1895-1991)
Although Olga Spessivtseva was born into a prosperous family, her father's death imposed financial hardships on the family, and Olga was sent to an orphanage. At the age of ten she became a student at the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg. Here she found the order and discipline that she needed in her life. A shy, withdrawn child, Olga dedicated her existence to ballet. She graduated in 1913 and became a soloist in 1916. Although she did not support Serge Diaghilev's ideas about dance, in 1916 she agreed to replace Tamara Karsavina on the American tour of Les Ballets Russes. When she returned to Russia in 1918, she was promoted to prima ballerina. Here she had her chance to dance Giselle for the first time. For many, Spessivtseva was the perfect Giselle, her flawless dancing and air of vulnerability eclipsing even the interpretation of Pavlova. Spessivtseva's fragile health and the deprivations of the Russian Revolution contributed to her contracting tuberculosis in 1919. By 1921, she had regained her strength and rejoined the Ballets Russes in London to dance Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Princess. The ballet was a financial failure, but when Spessivtseva returned to her homeland, she danced Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty and was a great success. In 1924, she left Russia for the last time and became the star of the Paris Opera Ballet. She had problems with the management and left in 1927 to briefly dance again for the Ballets Russes. Afterward she returned to the Paris Opera, where she danced Salomé and created a role in Serge Lifar's Creatures of Prometheus. The invitation to dance Odette in the second act of Swan Lake at Covent Garden induced Spessivtseva to return to Diaghilev's company in 1929. He also promised Spessivtseva he would revive Giselle for her. Diaghilev's death shattered her. She had a chance to dance Giselle again in the Camargo Soviet production at the Savoy Theatre in 1932. This heralded the revival of native classical ballet in England. Spessivtseva's fanatical perfectionism often caused her trouble and cancellations of contracts. In 1934, she toured Australia, again eclipsing memories of Pavlova. Spessivtseva gave her farewell performance in Buenos Aires in 1937. The coming war in Europe brought her to America to live. Here she became an advisor to a new company -- Ballet Theatre (now American Ballet Theatre). In 1940 she had a mental breakdown and was committed to a mental hospital in New Jersey. The hospital knew nothing of her past. For some time she was believed dead by many of her colleagues. Anton Dolin, Dale Fern and Felia Doubrovska managed to have her moved to the Tolstoy Farm in Valley Cottage, NY, where she died in 1991. Of her Giselle it was said, "She danced not for herself, not for an audience, but for Dance itself."