Boris Eifman talks about the crisis in ballet art

In an interview with Izvestia, Boris Eifman, People's Artist of Russia and founder of the St. Petersburg State Academic Ballet Theater, admitted that he was concerned about the state of the industry. According to the choreographer, ballet art is in deep crisis.

Playing classics: four Stravinsky ballets presented at the Bolshoi

Performances by Benoit, Bakst, Roerich and Goncharova returned to the stage of the main theater of the country.

"This is not only Russia's problem. Worldwide. The outstanding choreographers who worked in the 20th century have left. Almost all the great ones have left us. And who's left? Young people are most often illiterate or accidentally caught up in a profession. None of them joined it in order to devote their lives to composing works worthy of those great predecessors who created the glory of Russian ballet," says Boris Eifman.

He is amazed by our audience's forgiving love for what is happening at the ballet theater. No matter what, people don't stop loving ballet.

"However, what I see should not, in theory, please. More often than not, we are no longer confronted with the high art that previous generations of ballet dancers carried. The picture is very, very sad," concludes Eifman.

Read the full version of the interview in the exclusive Izvestia article:

"Our homeless troupe is a worldwide success, but is deprived of its stage"