agenda production: EIFMAN BALLETT St. PETERSBURG - Tickets PK 1

"The Pygmalion Effect" is Boris Eifman's first attempt in recent years to turn to the comic (or more precisely, tragicomic) genre, of which the choreographer is a proven master.

By finding his inspiration once again in contact with the World Heritage Site, Eifman offers the audience a ballet interpretation of the archetypal subject about the sculptor who falls in love with the statue of a beautiful girl he has created. In the dramaturgy of this performance, the role of the impetuous sculptor is transformed into that of a successful ball dancer who decides to "carve" a virtuoso dancer out of the awkward representative of the urban slums. The inner and outer transformation of the heroine takes place to the music of Johann Strauss (son), whereby the choreographer works with the works of the "Waltz King" for the first time in his rich artistic career.

As a tireless explorer of the soul, Boris Eifman borrows the title of the new ballet from the works of psychology, where the term "Pygmalion effect" refers to the phenomenon that expectations influence reality. In this way, a person who is perceived as successful by another will feel confident and successful. The amazing plasticity of the personality, unpredictably capable of changing according to attitudes and dreams, finds its exhaustive artistic and philosophical development in the performance of Eifman.

"The ballet "The Pygmalion Effect" is a choreographic interpretation of the myth about the artist and his creations, a new look at the theme of the difficult interaction and the eternal disagreement between art and life."

The wonderful transformation does not bring happiness to the heroine. The harmony disappears constantly with the remnants of the dream image. But what is life itself, if not a mirage, born of the longing for an unattainable dream?.."

Boris Eifman

"THE PYGMALION-EFFECT"
European premiere on
17th & 18th October 2019

at the Theater am Potsdamer Platz