Scenography of John Neumeier’s ballet “Anna Karenina”: artistic aspects of the authorial Interpretation of the literary source

Abstract

The subject of this article is the artistic and staging solutions applied by John Neumeier in choreographing the ballet “Anna Karenina”. Their determination and analysis is carried out in order to reveal the semantic dominants in interpretation of L. Tolstoy's plotline and understand the ideological intention of the author, who is both a choreographer and a production designer. The research is based on the comprehensive approach. Using semantic analysis of the ballet, the author was leaning on the principles developed by theoreticians and historians of the choreographic theater – Dobrovolskaya, Krasovskaya, Lopukhov, Suriz. In the course of historiographical analysis, were used the lectures given by Neumeier prior to the Moscow premiere of “Anna Karenina”. The article also contains video materials from the archives of Hamburg “Ballettzentrum” and Moscow Bolshoi Theater. The method of overt observation (based on the personal experience of working with Neumeier on the role of Kitty) was also applied. Neumeier saturates the minimalistic and easily transformable design of the ballet with symbolic images (chair, bag, door, steam locomotive), as well as uses staging techniques such as layering of scenes and change of scenery in motion, exposure of the structure of decorations, creation of several scenic plans, use of videography. Detailed semantic analysis of scenography, which became the key research instrument, allows concluding that in his choreographic interpretation of L/ Tolstoy's novel, Neumeier actively uses staging techniques characteristic to drama theater, broadening the range of scenographic solutions for the ballet performance. The author was able to determine and decode the symbolism of the original expressive elements and images by in-depth analysis of the ideological concept of the performance.