The Joffrey Ballet will soon perform the world premiere of Yuri Possokhov’s Anna Karenina based on the classic novel by Leo Tolstoy at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University in Chicago. The company will be accompanied by the Chicago Philharmonic under the leadership of Scott Speck, the Joffrey Music Director. The score for Anna Karenina is composed by award-winner Ilya Demutsky, and is a piece commissioned specifically for this production. This marks the fifth time that Possokhov and Demutsky have worked together on a ballet:
Every time it is a truly astonishing experience to see how my music materializes in Yuri’s stunning choreography.
– Ilya Demutsky
The creative team is augmented by Tom Pye, an Emmy Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated set and costume designer, as well as David Finn, a renowned lighting designer.
An acclaimed storyteller, Possokhov (he has received recognition for his Don Quixote and The Miraculous Mandarin among others) tells Anna Karenina in two acts, focusing on the love triangle whose principal character is a married aristocrat. Set in Imperial Russia, it touches upon the poignant themes of family, religion, morality, and gender.
The premiere of Anna Karenina will be at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago from February 13-24, 2019. Next year in May, The Australian Ballet will perform it in Melbourne.
Source for The Joffrey Ballet Presents Yuri Possokhov’s Anna Karenina: The Joffrey Ballet | Featured Photo of Victoria Jaiani and Alberto Velazquez in Yuri Possokohv’s Anna Karenina © Cheryl Mann
