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This is not the first time that Boris Eifman has called on the legacy of this outstanding Russian writer. The choreographer created his first ballet based on Dostoyevsky’s novel The Idiot in 1980. Later, a plastic interpretation of The Brothers Karamazov was born. Dostoyevsky’s last work formed the basis for two of Eifman’s works: the 1995 play The Karamazovs and the ballet Beyond Sin, released 18 years later.
“I turn to great works of literature not so much for plot outlines as for the philosophical and intellectual ideas that enrich the work, things that are not on the surface of the text but are discovered when one deeply immerses oneself in it.” Boris Eifman
Crime and Punishment is the third novel of the Great Torah, translated into the language of dance by the choreographer. According to the theater’s press department, Boris Eifman, always adhering to the author’s principles, did not draw illustrations for textbook texts, but through the accumulation of means of expression and research found in decades of writing, tried to give his own answers to global questions about the inherent nature of the text, the meaning of universal human moral codes and the consequences of their overthrow.
The ballet is based on the music of G. Mahler, B. Lubchenko. The music was recorded by the St. Petersburg Governor’s Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Anton Lubchenko. The author of the set is the famous set designer Zinovy Margolin, a long-time collaborator of Boris Eifman. The costumes were designed by the artist Olga Shaishmelashvili, and the lighting was designed by Gleb Filshtinsky and Boris Eifman.
The world premiere of the play Crime and Punishment will take place at the Alexandrinsky Theatre on September 17-18. In addition, the new work will be staged in St. Petersburg on October 7-8.
Direct Quotes
Boris Eifman, Director:
“The works of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky are an inexhaustible source of wisdom, capable of illuminating the darkest corners of existence with the hidden light of truth. “He who has ears, let him hear.
Many writers’ “big” novels begin with Crime and Punishment, and I have walked my adult life toward this work, now regarding it as an impregnable fortress, now walking away with doubt and hesitation. In our performances, we do not retell the plot of the original work, but interpret through dance the emotional and intellectual world of Dostoevsky’s main characters. Each of them is a microcosm, filled with transcendental passions and faced with unsolvable metaphysical contradictions.
The ballet Crime and Punishment reconstructs the difficult spiritual rebirth of the novel’s protagonist, Rodion Raskolnikov, whose high moral sense and sensitivity to the suffering of others give rise to a theory about the right of great men to “cross the blood for the common good”. The terrible idea brewing in the mind of a former student becomes his demonic obsession and drives him to murder. Raskolnikov commits a crime and breaks the highest moral law, but the defeated Napoleon cannot overcome human nature. The collapse of the inhuman theory is inevitable. Sonya Marmeladova’s sacrificial love finally heals the hero. The saintly sinner, like Raskolnikov, goes through the ordeal of redemption suffering and moves towards resurrection.
One of the primary commandments says: “Thou shalt not kill.” Anyone who violates it denies the absolute value of life—the inviolable gift of God.”
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