For the sixth time in New York, the Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg presents the full-length ballets of Who’s Who and Pinocchio in the New York City Center through April 20.
At a discussion in the 86 St. Barnes & Noble on April 15, Virginia Johnson, editor of Pointe magazine and former principal dancer with the Dance Theater of Harlem, talked about the Eifman Ballet performance of Who’s Who and Pinocchio. The Artistic Director, Choreographer Boris Eifman, ballet principal dancers Albert Galichanin, and Vera Arbuzova were present in this discussion with Virginia.

Through a translator, Eifman said, "We came to New York for the sixth time, and we wanted to mark this arrival with something new and something different."

The Eifman Ballet’s Who’s Who is a story about two dancers who flee the Russian Revolution and come to New York in the 1920’s, with their sometimes humorous and tragic adventures in America. The ballet’s Pinocchio has the same story line, except that Pinocchio is a young dancer. The story of Pinocchio is expressed through dance.

Who’s Who includes tap and jazz dancing. The Eifman Ballet dancers are classically and universally trained in all styles of dancing. With seven to eight hours of practice, the dancers had to learn all the steps in one month.

"It was very difficult to switch gears, because we only had a month to learn this new style of dance. It was also intimidating because tap is such an American form of dance, that we’re afraid that it will appear as an appearance rather than the kind of quality of dance that Americans are used to," said Arbuzova.

Johnson, who held the discussion with Eifman and his dancers, saw the opening night of Who’s Who at City Center. "Who’s Who is quite a beautiful work. His typical work is very dramatic and very tragic. This is funny. It’s a comedy, it’s got tap dancing in it, and it got jazz in it. It is very different, but very satisfying," said Johnson.

New Yorker Terry Naglack, who saw an Eifman Ballet performance in Russia, attended the Barnes & Noble discussion and wished she knew that the Eifman Ballet was going to be performing in New York.

Recalling the Eifman Ballet performance in Russia, Naglack said, "It was so wonderful, so original. It was dynamic, and everything, the colors, the presentation, the movement was great."

The Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg will be touring throughout the U.S. in Cleveland, Washington D.C., Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orange County, and other cities.
"The understanding of my style may be difficult, but if those obstacles are overcome, which they usually are, it results in a great performance and a great production," the translator said for Eifman.