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Anyuta: A Ballet
Anyuta A Ballet
Actors: Ekaterina Maximova, Vladimir Vasilyev, Gali Abaydulov, Marat Daukaev, Anatoliy Gridin
Director: Alexandr Belinsky
Genres: Special Interests, Educational, Musicals & Performing Arts
NR     2007     1hr 7min

VAI DVD 4410 Ekaterina Maximova, Vladimir Vasiliev, Bolshoi Ballet, 1982, Color, 67 min., All regions.

     
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Movie Details

Actors: Ekaterina Maximova, Vladimir Vasilyev, Gali Abaydulov, Marat Daukaev, Anatoliy Gridin
Director: Alexandr Belinsky
Creators: Valery Gavrilin, Stanislav Gorkovenko
Genres: Special Interests, Educational, Musicals & Performing Arts
Sub-Genres: Dance, Educational, Ballet & Dance
Studio: Video Artists Int'l
Format: DVD - Color
DVD Release Date: 04/24/2007
Original Release Date: 01/01/1982
Theatrical Release Date: 01/01/1982
Release Year: 2007
Run Time: 1hr 7min
Screens: Color
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaDVD Credits: 1
Total Copies: 0
Members Wishing: 0
Edition: Classical
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Languages: English

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Movie Reviews

Little-known Russian ballet with marvellous cast
Marc Haegeman | Gent, Belgium | 07/15/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Vladimir Vasiliev is not only one the all-time greatest Russian dancers, the former Bolshoi star has also proven a choreographer of real distinction. VAI re-releases his two-act ballet "Anyuta" as it was initially created in 1982 as a dance film with his wife Ekaterina Maximova in the title role. Adapted for the stage four years later, it remains one of his most complete and convincing works. Based upon Anton Chekhov's short story "Anna on the neck", satirizing life in a small provincial town, Anyuta concerns a woman who after marrying upon the social ladder discovers the power of beauty and sexual attraction, yet at the expense of all those dear to her. Set to an irresistible melodious score by Valery Gavrilin, Vasiliev's choreography, even if firmly rooted in the classical idiom and reviving the tradition of Russian literary ballets, is contemporary and adroitely portrays the characters, blending sentiment with the element of grotesque.

Ekaterina Maximova is magnificent as Anyuta, conveying a breathtaking range of emotions while Vladimir Vasiliev himself, cast against type as her hapless drinking father, gives one of his most subtle and moving portrayals. Supporting roles include Gali Abaidulov as Anyuta's wealthy and powerful, but stingy and boring bureaucrat-husband, John Markovsky as the rich and spoiled Don Juan Artynov, and Marat Daukaev as the student (a character introduced by Vasiliev) whom Anyuta is genuinely in love with.

VAI provides a fair DVD transfer from this 1982 film, with only a few blemishes in the print.

Highly recommended."
BreathTaking
maiden pa. | bedford, pa United States | 06/25/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this and was just blown away with her in this. A story of a girls rise from poverty to riches based on Chekhov's story Anna on the Neck. Choreographed by Vasiliev who also dances in it. Bonus is The Stone Flower with Maximova and Vasiliev. 67 minutes. Mono. Color. All region. Absolutely worth it."
A powerful,moving Anyuta
Jose Brito | Estoril,Portugal | 02/18/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Vladimir Vasiliev found Valery Gavrilin's music score for Anyuta (based in Chekhov's short story "Anna on the neck")quite an inspiration for his choreograpy of this ballet as "it acted as a spur to my imagination",he said,for he considered that Gravilin understood the very essence of Chekhov's work.Somehow ,Anyuta brings a reminiscense of Faubert's heroine,Mme Bovary,when she understands the power of physical beauty and becomes an adict to luxury,leaving everything and everyone behind,eating her life away.
As Anyutas's father,Vasiliev - considered the world's best dancer by Paris Dance Academy - plays a suffering,alcoholic man in a rather moving portrayal.
Ekaterina Maximova,in her early forties,dances the title role effortlessly,bringing out Anyuta's inner thoughts and feelings with such an expressiveness that she becomes the role she plays through dancing,supported by her superb technique.
Gorkovenko conducts Gavrilin's exciting music brilliantly.Filmed in 1982,the quality of the picture is modest but nevertheless it is a most beautifully choreographed modern classic ballet.A must."
Who Really Won the Cold War?
SapphicTwist | Atlanta, GA | 04/10/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)

"For post-bailout America, this Bolshoi production of "Anyuta" raises the question, "who really won the Cold War?" The official story says that the defeat of the Soviet Union was a victory for freedom and democracy. Why is it, then, that the Soviet evils depicted in this 1982 Soviet ballet so precisely coincide with the evils of contemporary America?

In Anyuta, choreographer Vasiliev and composer Gavrilin turn the concept of the Soviet "classless society" on its head, exposing the total spiritual corruption created by Soviet-style social polarization. (And if the idea of "spiritual corruption" is a little fuzzy to anyone, I would suggest that you watch this ballet.)

Meanwhile, in America, the middle class society that once put the Soviet Union to shame is no more. In its place is a division of social classes every bit as cruel and corrupting as the Soviet hierarchy attacked by Vasiliev and Gavrilin.

Falling within the scant tradition of socially-relevant ballets, Anyuta must be counted a masterpiece, the kind of adult ballet that Jean-Georges Noverre envisioned in his classic, Letters On Dancing And Ballets, if not quite on a par with "La Muette de Portici," the opera-ballet that triggered the Belgian Revolution in 1830.

We can only hope that choreographers, filmmakers, composers and artists of every description will take inspiration from this amazing ballet, which suggests so many possibilities for escaping from the political and cultural Jerry Springer-ization (is there any other word for it?) that has laid waste to the very soul of America.

Medicare for all!

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