Eifman Ballet

Letter from Mr. Boris Eifman – October 24, 2022

From: German Gureev, Герман Гуреев
Subject: Re: My adoration and trust to Mr. Boris Eifman and his art is solid forever.
Date: October 24, 2022 at 4:32:11 AM PDT
To: Toshiko Honda

Dear Toshiko,
thanks for your kind email. We share your anxiety about the current situation and are deeply missing our friends and our audiences in the West. However, we hope that it won’t be so long until we can reunite again to celebrate the eternal value of the ballet art.

Here’s what Mr Eifman wrote to your as an answer:

“Dear Toshiko,
thank you for your sincere and moving letter.
Despite the growing feeling of dismay in many hearts, I believe that everything will change for the good.
The whole history teaches us this and instills hope.
We hold out hope that our company is yet going to come to the great cultural centres of America, Europe and Asia not once.
The mission of the ballet art figures is about bringing beauty and incomparable emotions to people. And we are destined to aspire to this mission in dignity in any conditions and situations.
I sincerely appreciate your love and attention which you treat our company with. We sent the most heartfelt wishes of prosperity, harmony and sound health.
We’ll surely meet again!

Always yours,
Boris Eifman and the company of Eifman Ballet of St Petersburg”

 Kind regards,
 German Gureev
 Touring and external affairs
 Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg 

—
Check out the news of St. Petersburg Eifman Ballet on the web:
www.eifmanballet.com

http://vk.com/public175940
https://t.me/eifmanballet
Link to Eifman Ballet Promo Kit

Letter to Mr. Boris Eifman – October 20, 2022

Dear Mr. Eifman and German,
I have to face and accept the reality that I will never see you and the Eifman Ballet performances before I die.
For decades, Eifman Ballet would not visit the USA or Europe.
What can I do to promote your art, the most advanced ballet expression, to explore and express the inner world of human psychology through body movements of highly disciplined techniques?
Fortunately, I took a few videos of your rehearsal stages, which show how you are involved with dancers shouting the rhythm counts, to which dancers were to be exact. I may distribute the copy of videos to the prominent ballet companies here. I want to distribute the USB copies of your performances, Anna Karenina, Onegin, Tchaikovsky, and Karamazov, hoping that your art may influence someone.
Meantime, you may be able to put them on social media or your website. Pygmalion, too.
We have to accept the reality of the ice age of ballet art. Yet, maybe something we can do.
Love and adoration forever,
Toshiko Honda

Letter to Mr. Boris Eifman – September 6, 2021

September 6, 2021

Dear Mr. Eifman and German,

It is so nice to hear that you had a very successful Eifman Anniversary Performances. I wish I can see them on Youtube, your website, or you can send them to me by email.

Meantime, I am very much saddened to hear the very grave political discord between the US and Russia. And we are at the mercy of both authorities.

What can we do?

Nothing but my fascination with Eifman Ballet urged me to donate money to produce a video version of one of your choreographies.

However, in the meantime, I was aware of my underlying motive; if this event will lead to or at least promote the better friendship of both countries. I, powerless, worthless, an individual, can help get both countries amicable each other. Why not we all love and adore arts born in Russia. Name it, ballet, music, and literature.

Can you hurry up to finish the editing of Pigmarion and put it on Youtube, your website. It will promote your choreography, the most sort-after ultimate art, and friendship beyond the political discords.

I am 82 years old now. I am fine. But I want to see it before I perish.

Adoration and Love, 

Toshiko Honda

Letter to Mr. Boris Eifman – March 5, 2020

March 5, 2020

Dear Mr. Eifman,

I heard from German that you had an operation on your hip, and now you will have rehabilitation. He informed me that you are in good spirits. I am optimistic that you will be fine very soon. I pray for your quick recovery. 

I understand that German does a very good translation of my letter. Still, I asked my new friend, Lana, whom I met at Mikhailovsky Theater, to translate my letter into Russian because I want to express myself in your language and to be understood by you better.

My primary purpose for visiting for the shooting was to observe how you, Mr. Eifman, would create your dance out of your dancers. I anticipated and prepared to find that you are very strict and precise to reach your satisfaction. But, I witnessed the reality, which was much more stringent than I expected. When you had them repeated one scene more than ten times, the fear, “again this time is also going to be rejected.”, overwhelmed my head; I hardly concentrate on viewing the stage. When you rejected it again, I was so depressed. But all the dancers were taking the repetitions, as a matter of fact. They challenged each time with fresh energy. During a brief break, Lyubov started to wipe off her tears with her hand as if she was wiping off her sweat. The dancer nearby went out of the stage, returned with the tissue, and handed it to her. She wiped off her tears with it as if she wiped off her sweat. I admired their strong mentality more than their superb physical abilities. When I encountered Oleg Gabyshev around the massage table, I asked him, “How can the dancers establish such a strong mentality?”, he answered, “Meditation” with a smile. He was about to undress for getting a massage, and I had to leave. I pondered what he meant. He could have meant that he disciplines his mind, clearing by practicing meditation. Or, he could have meant that he totally concentrated on dancing at the given time. It could be both.

I have reviewed 13 shots I took there. You participate with dancers by your voice, call out, and punctuate each movement’s exact rhythm. By following your voice, or rather submitting their mind and movement to your command, they seemed to attain the miraculous embodiment of your world, Eifman Ballet. I recall that I have read one of the articles interviewing you, being asked something like this, “How do you train your dancers to master your choreography?”; you answered, “I infect them.” I did not grasp what you meant. While I was immersed in the process of shooting the “Pygmalion,” repetition over repetition on one scene, both dancers and you, totally involving each other as a unity, I understood your words, “I infest them.” You breathe life into the dancers. Your dancers are willing to submit themselves to your commands to realize the Eifman Ballet paradigm. An essential component underlining this human bondage is LOVE, in a broad term. Eifman’s love and passion for creating his world, choreography, and dancers’ trust and love for his creativity and love to participate in his creation and submit themselves to become Pygmalions. 

As I mentioned in my previous letter, shooting videos with your commanding voices is very valuable for your followers. I hope that videos of rehearsing or shooting with your voice and expression will be preserved for your followers of the current and future.

If it is not too late and possible, I would like to get a copy of the last 3 shootings of Oleg Gabyshev’s solo with a chair. My camera was full, and I could not capture them.

Thank you for posing with me to be taken pictures. At that time, I followed the pose you initiated. Now, looking at the pictures, I feel that you considered me as a partner for the “Pygmalion” video project. I feel very much honored. Enclosed is one of the pictures.

I am planning to go to New York in June to see “Russian Hamlet.” I hope that you will recover by the time of then. I hope to see you there.

Love,

Toshiko

What Eifman Ballet Means to Me

I just love Eifman Ballet performances. That’s it. Then I start probing why it’s so captivating me.

Number One: 

It has many excellent, technically superb dancers with extreme athleticism, acrobatic skill, and the capability to express feelings and emotion, captivate the audience believing as real, not acting. His choreography demanding the very limit of human potential is one’s wonder. But, the fearless dancers perform with vigorous zeal; that is another wonder. Eifman’s magnetic power to attract capable dancers and extract their potential to realize his world of ballet is a phenomenon. It is nothing new to hear that dancers are expected to express feelings and emotions in ballet circles and music and other art forms. The technique can be taught but expressing feeling and emotion is hard to teach and learn, which is said/heard many times. One representative of a prominent ballet company said, “We are looking for the students who have something we cannot teach.” There have been many famous ballet dancers now and past who are technically superb but never be able to act well-expressing feelings and emotions. Therefore, it is worth noting the question of WHY Eifman Ballet has so many dancers equipped to be able to dance with emotions and feelings. First, Mr. Eifman himself is capable of expressing feelings and emotions as he advocates “self-expression.” 

He choreographs as he feels like his intuition leads him to create movements exploring emotion and psychology.  I assume that the dancers who apply to work for him are attracted to his choreography, beliefs, and values. Among them, Mr. Eifman would choose the most potential ones who enact his world.  Definitely, there is solid human bondage not only between the choreographer and dancers, but a whole company as a unit;

that is the magnetic power to draw the heart of the audience. Mr. Eifman explained this phenomenon, “I infect them (dancers).” in jest. 

Number two:

In any performance, we hardly see any mime. Instead, Mr. Eifman expresses the story through dancing movements. For instance, in “Anna Karenina,” Anna and Bronsky returned to society from eloping. In other choreography, all of the corps de ballet walk away with a gesture of ignoring them. But in Eifman’s version, they express their contempt and ignoring by the fantastic dancing interweaving with the dancing of Anna and Vronsky. While they are dancing joyfully, the minute Anna alone or together with Vronsky approaches them, they swiftly change their direction and dance away from the stage. The superiority of his choreography is vivid, no need for Mime.

Number three:

In any performance, we hardly see props. If we do, props are very simple, which contrasts and emphasizes with superbness of dancing.  For instance,  stretching a piece of cloth becomes a wall, in “Russian Hamlet,” 

the long wooden plate with bench high becomes a lane where Tachianna strolled while Onegin is dancing on the stage.  Dancers use a simple bed or table by moving them or jumping on them to arise excitement. Even simple props become a part of dancing. Creative imaginations are abundant and have no limit.

Number four:

One scene to the next scene is very swift. Just about the second of blinking eye, the new set starts. Very efficient stage setting. 

There is no time to be bored. 

Number Five:

On his home page, he says, “For me, ballet is more than a profession. It is a means of existence, my mission on the earth. Using its resources, I am compelled to convey what is given to me from on high. Most likely, I would simply suffocate on my emotions if I didn’t have the possibility of expressing them through art. For me, the choreography is art that is deeply religious, in the broadest sense of the word.”  He is a luckily born genius, as he admits, and a role model of realizing self-expression (in his term), realizing a real human being.  Many of the protagonists in his choreography become insane. 

I perceive that he is warning that one, whose emotion and feelings are blocked, inclines to take alternative mentality, insane ( which the outsider label), but for them, it is the survival choice.  I also think that he cast the question to the whole world, “Religions are diminishing along with their good values and nourishment to our mentality.  If we cannot force people to believe in religions, we must pick up good values in religions to utilize in our lives.

Mr. Eifman states on his home page, “I create ballets of a different kind, where self-expression become the subject andin which there is drama, philosophy, characters and an idea connected with a performance. And I am sure that this is the ballet of the future. Believe me, many of my young colleagues will follow the road that I have taken. This road leads eventually to man.”  

I take his statement that he is suggesting the solution to us.  

To live healthy life mentally and physically, all human beings need to have “self-expression,” identifying and hopefully expressing feelings and emotions. How to implement this is another question to which we should probe the solution.

          2017

Time is changing

Russia, once being prevented by the “Iron Curtain,” out of reach for me
Yet through the mist
I adored many violinists, ballet dancers, and composers 

Decades ago, the “Iron Curtain” started melting away
Then came the flood of astonishing ballet dancers, 
They are super-natural, but LIVE!

Several years ago, I encountered Eifman Ballet
It accepts human beings as we are,
It expresses real feelings of human-beings 

Now, I am about to land in the country
which once in the secret mist
          September 2017

Time evolves

Once Russia was invisible, being obstructed by the “Iron Curtain”
Through the mist, we adored many prominent artists, musicians, composers, novelists, ballet dancers

Once the “Iron Curtain” melted away,
We had a flood of artists visiting our countries, LIVE!
We are convinced that Russian are human-beings
Excelling artistic abilities

Once Eifman Ballet knocked our mentality,
We were awake to question and realize;
What are real human beings?
What must be done to promote a healthy mentality

I am about to step on the land
where Eifman Ballet paradigm is established
Where his philosophy derived
Where his dream will expand
          9/24/2017

Letter to Mr. Boris Eifman – June 12, 2015

June 12, 2015

Dear Mr. Boris Eifman,

I am an enthusiastic admirer of you and your ballet company.

Ever since I saw your performance, I always buy tickets to see 3 consecutive performances, overnighting at the hotel for several years. This time I have seen 2 versions, “Up and Down,” and “Rodan”, 3 performances, at the Music Center. You have an unshakable principle, pursuing the true human natures. Basing on what you believe and what you feel, you create choreography. Your dancers share your belief and values and submit themselves to your passion, choreography. In the most respecting sense, TO ME, you and your ballet company are like the integrated religious group’s paradigm, “Knowing what is important, believing it, and doing it.” I like Anna Karenina. The climax, the suicide of Anna jumping onto the train, is orchestrated by the dancing of the male corps de ballet symbolizing the dashing train. Impressive creativity. Maria Abashova was extremely beautiful in every aspect.

I like Onegin. Onegin, showing his back to the audience, extending his right hand from the back of Lensky, and pulls the hand of Olga, who was embraced by Lensky, into his embrace. 

That choreography showed the sly personality of Onegin far more effectively visible than that of Clanko, mere repetition of snatching Olga for dancing. 

I like Hamlet. Maria Abashova was so powerfully beautiful as the empress. Clothes were used as a prop so effectively. I feel Maria Abashova is the most excellent dancer. Last year, she did not come. I was so disappointed. I could see her in both performances this time, and I hope to see her in “Rodan.” Other dancers are competitively excellent in their way.

Oleg Gabyshev completely pulls me into his acting, real. 

Lyubov Andreyeva is a competitively great actress dancer. Oleg Markov takes the role of shade-side to give an excellent contract to light-side counterpart, as always I have seen him. All dancers have souls which are visible.              

Would you please let us buy a DVD of some of your repertories, if not all, in the USA at a reasonable price? I purchased “Anna Karenina” on the internet paying $80.00. It was sent from Russia. 

If the price is more comparable to other ballet DVDs, more people can afford them. I believe that your DVDs are indispensable to enlighten people to be aware that “It is important to express feelings and emotions to be the real person, whole person.”  

I wish you would consider the following as your future challenge choreographies:

“Samson & Delila” with Maria Abashova 

I imagine how you would evolve eroticism into sensual sublimation.

“Emancipation”

PLOT: 
The process of a gay male dancer (or any artist, musician, actor) to be an open gay. The dancer, who has excellent techniques but cannot express emotion, feeling, is not a good actor, gradually breaks through the shell and gets the courage to be an open gay. He finally can greet the audience with his lover, partner, hand in hand.  

The ballet mistress, who was initially in love with this young man while being his mentor keeps her love in different stages. The process of her psychological development; Initially, sweet affection as a mentor tangle with her feeling of loving him as a man, disappointment to find him as gay, yet she disciplines herself not to perceive him by projecting “stereotype of homosexual negative image.” But instead, she learns to perceive and accept him as “a person,” encourage him to accept him as he is, and develop his courage to be an open gay. She suffers through a feeling of loss, her beloved while feeling happy for him of his emancipation. PLOT can be for transgender, too.

“One Thousand and one night tales”

PLOT: Original “the Thousand and one Nights” is for children. This one is for adults. The man who has some sexual problem (such as premature ejaculation, erection problem, whatever) has to change his wife (girlfriend) frequently. The woman who loves him sucks him into her imagination of love-making one night after another. One night she fantasizes that she is a flower, peony, which layers of pedals tightly cover its pistil. It is her love to let him unlay the pedals by one stroke by another to reach its pistil, which is the symbol of her chastity, bashfulness. 

Another night, she fantasizes that she is a girl on the farm. She was working in the barn, where she ended up being raped by the worker. Another night, she is a sex slave. For survival, she has to submit herself to the captor. 

So on & so on. Being captivated by the expression on her face, wanting to pursue what is in her feeling, her mind, he will be drowned into her body, forgetting about his problem. Finally, he establishes his mentality to engage in sex activities communicating with her feelings instead of worrying about his potent. 

This is the challenge to the prevailing contemporary tendency to rely on external stimulus, pills, and other stimulants to pursue satisfaction in sex. 

Lastly, please let the world know your annual (or in advance) schedule of all performances. We can plan to visit and see your performances around the world. Please set up your website where we can contact you and your company representative.

Thank you for coming to Los Angeles. Wish you good health!

Toshiko Honda