TRAILER https://vimeo.com/450223467

“We tend to imagine misfortune as something concrete, as an event; yet in reality misfortune is never an event.
Misfortune is a life — a long life — containing only the illusion of happiness, but devoid of happiness or purpose.”
— Leo Tolstoy

Deeply imbued with Russian culture, Anželika Cholina has created a production that theatrically highlights the central dramatic tensions of Tolstoy’s novel. At its core are Anna’s suffocating life beside her husband Karenin, whom she does not love; her fatal passion for the officer Vronsky and the scandal of a love lived openly; her painful separation from her beloved son Seryozha; and the condemnation of Moscow and St. Petersburg high society.
All this leads to the tragic ending: driven by remorse, pain, and shame, Anna throws herself beneath a train in a lonely railway station.
Through passionate pas de deux, dramatic solos, and striking ensemble scenes, the many intertwined stories of the novel unfold on stage. Among them stands out the mature love between Kitty, Vronsky’s rejected fiancée, and Levin, who has long adored her and eventually wins her heart.
Cholina brings the great Russian novel to life through her distinctive dance-theatre language — a unique blend of classical ballet and contemporary dance, where emotional intensity is conveyed not only through movement but also through the expressive power of the dancers’ faces and gaze.
The company’s cast is outstanding, from the leading roles to the surrounding ensemble: classically trained dancers who are also remarkable actors. Their emotional journeys are carried forward by a compelling musical score featuring Alfred Schnittke, Gustav Mahler, Gabriel Fauré, and, naturally, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. One of the most powerful moments occurs in the “theatre within the theatre” scene, when a performer sings Tatiana’s famous Letter Scene from the opera Eugene Onegin.