Choreography: Leo Mujic (Croatia)
Costume design: Aleksandar Noshpal
Adaptation of the set design : Mihajlo Stojanovski, Sasho Stojanovski
Light design: Milcho Aleksandrov
Painter: Zoran Kostovski
Graphic design: Emil Petrov
Stage managers: Dubravka Sopova, Tijana Tarchugovska, Ljupka Arsovska
Accompanists: Marjan Vasilevski, Stefan Pehcevski
Repetitors: Goran Bozhinov, Lora Tarchugoska
Assistant costume design: Emanuela Trajceska
Cast:
Anna Karenina: Mimi Pop Aleksova Atanasovska
Vronsky: Boban Kovachevski
Karenin: Vasil Chichiashvili (Georgia)

Featured soloists, corps de Ballet
Synopsis according to the novel from L.N. Tolstoy
““All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” – L.N. Tolstoy
The Ballet Anna Karenina:
The biggest challenge is to create work of art from two of the biggest creators of the Russian and world’s culture and art, Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
One of the most significant literature novels “Ana Karenina”, from the conclusion of the 19 and the whole 20 century is used as inspiration for many theatrical and movie creations.
Today it is an inspiration for the choreographer Leo Mujic and the ballet ensemble of the National Opera and Ballet. Tchaikovsky, most of the time was inspired from the Russian and world’s classic, but has never used anything from Tolstoy. Anyhow, for a romantic story such as “Anna Karenina”, the most suitable one is exactly his music. (Currently choreographing, utilizing parts from: D-major concert for violin and orchestra, The Symphony in b-minor, The Sentimental Waltz, The Fifth Symphony in e-minor, The Sixth Symphony in b-minor, and Eileen in g-minor). Or how Tolstoy said: Where loves ends, the hatred begins!
If we want to sum the point of the story in once sentence, it would be the above one, which is cliche for most novels and acts. The grandiose novel from Tolstoy, written in couple hundred pages, can never be just a cliche.
Anna Karenina’s desire for young Vronski, makes her refuse her wealth and family, and ignore the prejudice of the social stigma of Royal Russia. For young Vronski, she is only an adventure. At the end totally rejected from society, declared of the possibility of seeing her son, she decides to commit suicide.
The psychological drama of Karenina, widespread between love and passion in one hand and the strict social norms ,her family, husband, son, failed attempt for divorce, on other hand, drive her in the abysmal existence, which leads to tragedy.

To be a living dead or dead sinner! This is the question that Tolstoy himself is asking, which is the same question that the main character is troubled with. What is life without love?
It is impossible to tell the whole story through the dancing act and that is why in our Anna Karenina, we accentuate the characters, their characteristics, their inner psychological feelings, their emotions and their mutual relationships.
We want to create a dancing act which will touch not just us, the viewers of the ballet, but us as a living creatures of this new era.
Through dance and movement, We want to convey the feelings, state of the souls and mutual relationships of our characters.
Combining the academic ballet with the modern dance expression, geology and mimicry, with our choreographic manuscript, We will try to touch all of You.
Hence, that is the point of the drama, to be showed, not retold!

MA Krsto Skubev – a culturologist.