The Australian Ballet and Joffrey Ballet join forces for Tolstoy classic
Tolstoy’s classic novel Anna Karenina is so epic it will take two ballet companies to bring it to the stage in Adelaide next year — here’s when it arrives in SA.
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Russian literary classic Anna Karenina will come to life on the Adelaide stage next year when the Australian Ballet joins forces with acclaimed US company the Joffrey Ballet.
The epic co-production had its world premiere at the Joffrey’s home in Chicago earlier this year, and will have seasons in Sydney and Melbourne before opening at Adelaide’s Festival Theatre from July 4-10.
Described as being a show of “cinematic proportions”, Anna Karenina features choreography by former Bolshoi dancer Yuri Possokhov and a score by award-winning Russian composer Ilya Demutsky.
Unusually for a ballet, it also features a libretto which will be sung live on stage by a mezzosoprano in Russian and French.
The set design will use projections to help create the high society ballrooms and chilly railway stations of Leo Tolstoy’s iconic 1878 novel.
Anna Karenina tells the story of a woman in a boring marriage who tears apart her life in a passionate affair and suffers unbearable consequences.
Next year will be artistic director David McAllister’s final season after 20 years at the helm of the Australian Ballet.
“It has been an enormous privilege and pleasure … continuing to honour our traditions and the art form while also encouraging new artists to reflect our current environment and create a vision of the future,” Mr McAllister said.
Full program and booking details at australianballet.com.au