WEEKENDER
Ballet version of legendary novel showcased to celebrate PyeongChang Olympics
Exactly 100 days before the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics start on Feb. 9, the Korea National Ballet staged “Anna Karenina” at the Seoul Arts Center’s opera theater. The ballet was performed as part of the Cultural Olympiad Guide.
Exactly 100 days before the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics start on Feb. 9, the Korean National Ballet staged “Anna Karenina” in Seoul at the Seoul Arts Center’s opera theater. The ballet was performed as part of the Cultural Olympiad Guide, a culture campaign that takes place before and during the Olympics, from Nov. 1 to 5. It will also be performed during the Olympics from Feb. 10 to 11 at the Olympic Art Center in Gangneung, Gangwon Province.
Having been chosen as the piece for the Olympics, the production offers cheaper tickets (sponsored by the government) whose highest price is marked at 50,000 won, making it more affordable than the usual price for ballets.
“Anna Karenina,” written by Leo Tolstoy, is a tragic story of married aristocrat Anna Karenina who falls in love with the affluent Count Vronsky in 19th century Russia, which leads to her consequential demise. Anna throws herself into illicit love, abandoning her marriage, her child and her stable life, despite the pressures and social stigmas of the times. Being ostracized by the social circles she is part of, and later abandoned by her newfound love Vronsky, Anna struggles emotionally and takes her own life.
Kang Sue-jin, artistic director of Korean National Ballet, said the piece was selected for the Olympics because “Anna Karenina” is internationally well-known. “The piece will allow people to enjoy different genres of music and different styles of ballet,” she said.
The chosen “Anna Karenina” is a version by choreographer Christian Spuck, artistic director of Ballet Zurich in Switzerland. Ballet Zurich premiered it on Oct. 12, 2014, and it was received with positive reviews for its choreography, stage art and costumes.
When asked what attracted him to “Anna Karenina,” Spuck said he was drawn to the character Anna who plunged herself into a dangerous romance, kicking away a stable marriage. It took him almost two years preparing this production, mulling over which parts of the massive classical masterpiece to extract scenes from.
He focused on the drama of the ballet, emphasizing acting over dancing for this particular piece, bringing out emotions instead of aesthetics. He focused on the love triangle between Anna, Vronsky and Karenin, Anna’s husband, while trying to bring out the social environment and atmosphere of 19th century Russia through the corps de ballet.
Spuck chose music by Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff and Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski to balance each other out. While Rachmaninoff is represented by serious and mellow tunes, Lutoslawski was added for strength to maximize emotion.
Feast for the eyes
The first impression after watching this ballet version of “Anna Karenina,” in one word, was “beautiful.” The costumes, designed by London-based set and costume designer Emma Ryott, were breathtaking. The weight of the masterpiece was felt through the costumes, as if they brought the atmosphere of the period alive. It is said the production spent a large part of its 2 billion won budget on the costumes, and surely they played their part.
Choreography and acting were dramatic as intended, while live music playing in the background — by both a pianist and an orchestra (Korean Symphony Orchestra conducted by Paul Connelly) — enlivened the intensity. For the rehearsal, pianist Cho Jae-hyuck played both on and below the stage in the orchestra pit. Cho and pianist Kim Go-eun are performing interchangeably for the five-day run.
The stage was designed with minimalism, in contrast to the flamboyance of the costumes. Other than wooden bench props and tree trunks, the only other visual aid was a moveable curtain screen on which they projected videos of a train approaching the station, a racetrack on which Vronsky rides a horse, and the railway where Anna takes her life.
The overall tone of the stage and performance were dark and heavy, reflecting the weight of the original plot. This is a performance more suited for adults than teenagers, and to those who have endured the pain of reading through the 900-page novel. Understanding the storyline will double the entertainment, as it will be difficult for non-readers and non-ballet enthusiasts to follow the story through the three-hour performance.
However, as much as the performance was a feast for the eyes, there was room for spicing up in other areas.
In between the music and choreography there were, at times, awkward pauses in which the dancers performed in (what seemed like) uncomfortable silence to the audience. Some repetitive sequences also could have been halved to keep the audience from drifting away.
And most importantly — understandably being limited in the genre — the performance couldn’t fully bring to life the intensity and depth of the novel, in which Tolstoy manifests his philosophy on life, love and spirituality.
The intensity of the emotions felt by the characters in the novel didn’t really seep through in the ballet. The contemplation of the characters, questioning the reason for and the significance of their existence, questioning how humanity’s purpose of life aligns with piecemeal and fragmentary daily lives of humans — a mental quest ventured in the novel — were hardly felt.
One suggestion would be to emphasize the two stories that run parallel to each other in the novel — one of Levin, a character in which Tolstoy reflects his philosophy and spirituality on, and of Anna, through which Tolstoy explores human nature in the physical realm, of personal fulfillment. The emotions and struggles of both Anna and Levin, which is in contrast — physical versus spiritual satisfaction — could have been expressed through their simultaneous solo performances on stage.
However, for the courage of turning this massive classical masterpiece into a ballet, the production surely deserves applause.