Rodin - Her Eternal Idol - Boris Eifman’s ballet in Tbilisi
By Anita Magradze
Friday, April 26
Tbilisi Opera and Ballet State Theater hosted well known Russian choreographer’s - Boris Eifman’s Ballet “Rodin - Her Eternal Idol”. The show opened Tbilisi Rhythm Festival 2019 and took place on April 22, 23.
Rodin, premiered in 2011, explores the complicated love affair of two artists, sculptor Auguste Rodin, and his disciple, lover and Muse - Camille Claudel.
Boris Eifman offers a new interpretation of the world of human passions, masterfully portrayed by Rodin and Claudel, using his unique plastic language of modern psychological ballet in the performance.
“This is a ballet about the great sculptor Rodin. I always found his history very interesting – his path of life, fate, and relationship with the brilliant woman sculptor Camille Claudel, who gave him her talent and her life. This history is very important to me, as I wanted to express in it what kind of sacrifices artists have to make to actualize their talent and revive the perfect image that they strive to create.
A choreographer and sculptor share one common thing that somehow brings them together- we both work with the bodies of human our whole lives. However, if a sculptor searches for the fixed moment, I search for movement, which will express the emotion of the soul,” Eifman stated.
Boris Eifman also assessed Georgian National Ballet, saying that he was pleasantly surprised after seeing “Sleeping beauty”.
“The ballerinas are very correctly taught; they are professionally performing the roles. I want to congratulate Nino Ananiashvili and her group for such a high level” he said.
This is not the first time Boris Eifman’s Ballet theatre visits Tbilisi. In 2007, Eifman brought “Requiem” and “Musaget”, in 2013 - “On the other side of sin” based on the novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky “The Brothers Karamazov”, and in 2016 – “Anna Karenina”, marked by the theater awards “Golden Mask ”and“ Golden Soffit ”.
Boris Eifman continues to surprise and astonish the audience with the uniqueness of motion.
“Returning to Tbilisi is a huge pleasure for me. What is the response to an artist instead of his hard work? It’s the reaction of the audience, it is the applause, it is a full hall – all these we have in Tbilisi, what else do we need? Nothing!” he noted.
