FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

EIFMAN BALLET FROM ST PETERSBURG BRINGS ANNA KARENINA-TOLSTOY'S STORMY PSYCHOLOGICAL DRAMA TO THE NCPA ON ITS FIRST-EVER INDIA TOUR

- Suhani Singh

Talk of Russian ballet and familiar classics like Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, The Nutcracker come to mind instantly. So, it comes as a surprise that a 50-year-old Russian ballet company in its maiden tour of India will be staging Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina at the National Centre for Performing Arts [NCPA] in Mumbai from December 8-10. But that’s Eifman Ballet, a St Petersburg-based repertory which prides itself for practising a distinct artistic expression that it describes as “Russian psychological ballet theatre”. “My productions are distinguished by a meticulously crafted dramaturgical foundation, profound intellectual content and psychological depth,” says