Tchaikovsky. PRO et CONTRA is the result of Boris Eifman’s years-long contemplation of the great composer’s personality and creative world. The premiere took place shortly before the anniversary of the choreographer, who celebrated his 70th birthday on July 22, 2016.

Pyotr Tchaikovsky is perhaps Eifman’s most favorite composer. The choreographer created such notable performances as The Idiot (1980), Red Giselle (1997), Musagete (2004), Anna Karenina (2005) and Eugene Onegin (2009) set to his music. The ballet Tchaikovsky, released in 1993, that toured with great success all over the world, deserves special attention. Today, Boris Eifman offers a new, original choreographic creation that reflects modern artistic and technological possibilities of the ballet theatre – Tchaikovsky. PRO et CONTRA.

“Having been focused on Tchaikovsky’s music for many years, I realized how deep and bottomless the composer’s world was. I became aware of the diversity of themes related to his creative life, his personanlity, his relationship with the loved ones. These issues had not been sufficiently considered by me earlier. I wanted to create a work, in which I could delve deeper into the environment of Tchaikovsky’s creative torment,” Eifman resumes.

The choreographic score of the new production shows variety and accurately conveys emotional experience of the characters. The ingenuity of the body language allowed Boris Eifman to explore insightfully the internal conflict, from which Tchaikovsky suffered painfully and which became a source of unbearable mental suffering and predestined the tragic confessional tone of his music.