Duets by Anna Karenina and Alexey Vronsky in the ballet by J. Neumeier's "Anna Karenina": features of the author's interpretation of the images of the main characters

Khokhlova Dar'ya ORCID: 0000-0003-0426-7469 PhD in Art History Principal Dancer of the Bolshoi Theatre 125009, Russia, g. Moscow, ul. Teatral'naya Ploshchad', 1 daria.khokhl@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

     This article continues the author's research devoted to the study of the problem of choreographic interpretations of literary works and, in particular, John Neumeier's ballet "Anna Karenina". So, earlier the author analyzed in detail the scenographic solution of the performance, as well as the choreographic interpretation of Levin's image ^{[18, 19]}. In this paper, the identification of expressive staging means and choreographic elements used by John Neumeier in the production of duets by Anna Karenina and Alexei Vronsky is carried out in order to determine the place of these choreographic fragments in the performance, as well as their significance for the author's interpretation of the images of the main characters of the novel by Leo Tolstoy.

     John Neumeier's long-term interest in large-scale interpretations of works of great literature on the ballet stage can be partly explained by the fact that the choreographer has a bachelor's degree in literature and theater studies, obtained at the University of Marquette, Michigan. However, the broadest creative legacy of the eminent choreographer, who has been the permanent head of the Hamburg Ballet for almost half a century (since 1973), has long gone beyond any definite limits. The consequence of this is a lot of Russian-language works devoted to the choreographer's work, the number of which continues to increase ^{[1, 8 – 10, 17, 20]}. However, the duets of Anna Karenina and Alexey Vronsky did not act as an independent object of detailed analysis, meanwhile, such a study can contribute to the further study of the choreographer's performances.

     The ballet "Anna Karenina", consisting of two acts and staged based on the novel of the same name by Leo Tolstoy, was first performed in Hamburg (Hamburg State Opera) on July 2, 2017.. Then, less than a year later, on March 23, 2018, the Russian premiere took place in Moscow (Bolshoi Theater). The musical score of the play is composed of works by P. I. Tchaikovsky, A. G. Schnittke and K. Stevens. The music of each of the composers highlights a certain sphere of the heroes' lives, forming a separate musical "world". The epicenter of the "world" of the last of the composers becomes the figure of Levin (the study of whose image is not included in the tasks of this article), but the first two are the main characters. In Neumeier's play, Anna Karenina is the wife of a congressman, and Alexey Vronsky is an athlete. In total, there are three expanded duet fragments in the ballet, performed by Anna and Vronsky.

     The first meeting of the characters takes place at the train station (not in the carriage, as in chapter XVIII of the first part of the novel, but on the platform, during the short absence of other characters), and the first duet is staged at a party in honor of the betrothal of Kitty (to whom Vronsky in Neumeier's version has already proposed). Tchaikovsky sounds (Suite No. 1), the musical "world" of which probably does not imply the exit of the developing relationships of the characters beyond their habitual existence. Anna's performer is dressed in a black velvet dress (as in the novel) with an open back and a small train, which, of course, introduces certain technical nuances to the choreography.

     There is no mention in the text of Tolstoy's novel that at the ball, where Vronsky never proposed to Kitty, the hero is left alone with Anna Karenina. During the description of this ball, the following is said about the main character: "Anna is drunk with the wine of the admiration she excites" ^{[16, p. 84]}. "I remembered the ball, I remembered Vronsky and his loving submissive face, I remembered all my relations with him: there was nothing to be ashamed of. And at the same time, at this very place of memories, the feeling of shame intensified ..., " – says about Anna's memories on the way to St. Petersburg ^{[16, p. 103]}. Thus, Neumeier included and accentuated a choreographic fragment that is absent in the novel, but designed to reflect the emotions of the characters described by Tolstoy.

     At the beginning of the first duet, Vronsky, dressed in a white tunic, appears through one of the doors in "movable rotating rectangular blocks-walls, one side of which is painted white", which are the main decorative elements of this scene ^{[18, p. 49]}. Among other objects on the stage there is "a chandelier, with its graphic form resembling an inverted unopened flower, and three transparent plastic chairs," standing side by side in the left part of the stage ^{[18, p. 51]}. The performer of the main character leans against the wall and laughs loudly (in a voice), slowly sinking to the floor. Anna's performer comes out of the second door, holding a small red purse in her hands. The first part of the duet begins with several solo pas of the heroine. Having reached the middle of the stage with dignity, the ballerina holds the train of the dress with one hand and swings her leg, and then gracefully steps from one foot to the other. Turning to Vronsky (already standing at full height), she passes through the door left open and exits from the end of the rectangular block. The dancer stretches out his hand and stops her by the shoulder, then turns away to the wall. This touch does not seem to happen in reality: Anna returns and walks out of the door again, as if this is her first appearance. She performs solo pas again, and Vronsky's performer hides behind the door. The ballerina, having picked up the train and leaning on the pointe of one foot, substitutes the other for it, performing a movement bearing a Spanish flavor. After switching from one foot to the other several times and repeating the first movement, she swings her leg, performs a double pirouette and goes into two grand jet? ? la seconde. So she returns to the part of the scene where Vronsky disappeared behind the door, but at this moment the hero appears from another door, from where Anna left at the very beginning of the duet. The dancer, obviously not specifically reacting to the appearance of a partner, alternates pas couru with pas de poisson, moving towards the plastic chairs. Sitting on the farthest of them, Anna takes a cigarette out of her purse and pretends that she only noticed Vronsky standing next to her (with a burning lighter in his hands). The hero takes a cigarette from the ballerina, sits down in her place, immediately gets up, picks up his partner in support, falls to the floor in her way (she elegantly steps over his legs), grabs one of the chairs and, passing over the other two, runs to another part of the stage. His excitement and impulsiveness amuse Anna, who slowly approaches the hero and takes back her cigarette. Moving the chair, which in Neumeier's ballet can be interpreted as a symbol of family, reliable relationships, probably has the meaning of the disorder that Vronsky immediately brings into his life (destroying relations with Kitty) and into Anna's habitual life.

     The performer of Vronsky picks up the dancer, who was heading to the still standing chairs, in small supports, during which the ballerina bends back, throwing her legs into the "ring". The heroine turns to the door, but the dancer, sitting on one knee, stops her, picks her up and quickly turns around (the ballerina opens her legs). Having placed the partner, the hero, bending sharply in the renvers?, ardently shuts the door from her and, taking her by the waist, bends her into the port de bras.Having risen and turned soutenu in the partner's hands, the ballerina bends down again, now lifting her leg and moving into the grand rond de jambe, and the partner circles her in tour lent. The bundle ends with the ballerina lowering onto the twine, from which the Vronsky performer lifts her into a small support. Then, having walked around two chairs, the dancers perform a high lift on the partner's outstretched arms (on the descent from him, the ballerina bends into a "ring", bending her legs). At the end of the first part of the duet, the characters sit on two chairs; Kitty appears from the door on the right side of the stage, Levin appears on the left. Seeing Vronsky with Anna, Kitty frantically runs away, slamming the door behind her; Levin also leaves.

      The second part of the duet begins with the fact that Anna, noticing the appearance of Kitty, abruptly rises from her chair and rushes to the door to stop her. But Vronsky catches up with the main character earlier and the dancers stop, leaning their backs against the wall. The lighting is changing: now the stage is flooded with yellowish ghostly light, and the figures of the heroes are highlighted in such a way that their shadows cast on the wall stand out brightly. This gives the impression of the illusory nature of what is happening in this part: perhaps all this exists only in the minds of Anna and Vronsky. Holding hands, the dancers lean to one side, then the Vronsky performer stands behind the ballerina, pressing her against the wall, and raises her to outstretched arms. During the support, the dancer slides her hands along the wall, then sits on the floor, and, rising, walks around the partner. The characters switch places, taking turns pressing their hands against the wall: during these movements, the play of their graphic, enlarged and forked shadows is very noticeable. Swinging their legs, the dancers spread their hands pressed against the wall in a circle, then the Vronsky performer picks up the ballerina by the shoulders and carries her away from the wall, blocking her passage to each of the doors. At this moment, a Man appears in one of them (a character who becomes the prototype of a road worker who died at the railway station in the novel, who appeared in Anna's dreams in the play by Neumeier). The performer of Vronsky lifts the ballerina (this time facing the auditorium), who again slips her hands over the surface of the wall, but suddenly breaks out and sees the Man. Terrified, she hangs on to her partner's arms and, after support, hides behind the right end of the wall, while Kitty appears from the door. So this part of the duet is again separated by the appearance of a character from Vronsky's life before meeting Anna.

     Full stage lighting is added, dispelling the effect of chiaroscuro and the ghostliness of what is happening and bringing the characters back to reality. After Kitty, having scattered the chairs (finally destroying the order of her relationship with Vronsky), disappears hysterically behind the left door, the third part of the duet of Anna and Vronsky begins. Anna appears from the right door and moves along the wall. Near the left door lies the purse left to her – the heroine picks it up and, meeting Vronsky's gaze, takes out a cigarette. Lowering her seemingly exhausted hand, the ballerina falls into the hands of her partner, who turns her upside down, circles her and puts her on a lonely chair. After running around, Vronsky's performer snatches a cigarette from the dancer's hands, takes a drag, immediately gives it back and lifts his partner by the waist. During the turn in support, the ballerina describes a wide circle with her feet, then sits down on a chair, and the Vronsky performer sinks down next to her, putting his head on her lap. Having risen, Anna, already openly reveling in her happiness, selflessly leans on her partner, who circles her in the arabesque pose. Then she holds out her hand to the performer of Vronsky, and he helps her to spin in a pirouette. Having performed in support of the grand jet? derri?re, the heroes proceed to a synchronous combination with wide lunges and leg swings. The performer of Anna presses her cheek to the shoulder of the hero and lies down on his back, opening her legs in jet?.

     Further combinations can be called the culmination of the duet. This is a combination of hand strokes with the twisted position of the partner's body; support in the same pose, ending with an amplitude swing of the legs; pirouettes in different directions on the buttress, also alternating with the crossed pose of the ballerina. The bundle goes into support, during which the performer of Vronsky lifts the dancer above him, and she bends the body at a right angle. Then the hero puts the performer Anna on his knee, puts his hands behind her head. The heroine selflessly succumbs to his movements, then lies down on her partner's back, rolls over her and puts the head of the performer Vronsky lying on the floor on her knee. Having looked into his face with pleasure, she remains sitting, while the dancer rises impulsively and enthusiastically, and after performing a jump with a deflection under his right arm and two double saut de basque, freezes, leaning on the wall and opening his arms wide. During a meaningful pause, the seated Anna looks into the auditorium with a direct gaze. Then the hero approaches the partner, picks her up from the floor, and lifts her into the air. The ballerina imitates that she walks widely through the air (which is performed with the help of a dancer), then takes her hand from her partner. Taking her purse, lying on a transparent chair on the left side of the stage (the only one left standing), Anna disappears behind a door in the wall. The performer of Vronsky sits down on this chair, and unexpectedly meets the gaze of Kitty who has appeared from behind the scenes. Getting up, he throws a chair on the floor and goes to the opposite (than Anna) door.

     After the departure of the performer Kitty behind the scenes, the musical reprise and the final part of the duet begin. The heroes simultaneously appear from different doors and walk a few steps towards the ramp. After completing a helical turn, they change the direction of movement and converge on the center of the stage. The performer of Vronsky takes his partner by the shoulders and rejects her in a pose ? la seconde, then, without changing the position of support, the dancers perform an imitation of wide steps "through the air", turning into a tour lent with a strong deflection of the ballerina. All this time, the dancer's hands seem to be tied by the partner's hands, the movements are blocked – the heroine is no longer able to escape from the web that is dragging her. Holding hands, the characters synchronously perform several steps forward, then disperse: the performer of Anna begins to pull back, and the performer of Vronsky forward and vice versa. After that, they perform four synchronous steps towards the wings and suddenly turn around in different directions. As if waking up from an obsession, Vronsky gallantly kisses Anna's hand, and at that moment the stage light goes out.

     So, during the first duet, all three transparent chairs end up on the floor. Such a Neumeier technique, which features an image-a symbol of family, reliable relationships, is here unequivocally associated with the destruction of such relationships, chaos and uncertainty coming in the lives of the main characters. It is also worth noting the following staged solutions by Neumeier, used in the first duet Anna and Vronsky: the division of the expanded choreographic fragment into four parts, each of which is separated by the appearance of other characters (Kitty and Levin, the Peasant and Kitty, Kitty); the use of stage lighting to emphasize the difference between the parts and to create a chiaroscuro effect (reality and the world of shadows arising in the subconscious of the characters); active choreographic development, based on a technically intense duet dance and experiments with high supports in the neoclassical style, combined with the inclusion of the simplest elements (steps, pauses, head turns).

     The second duet Anna and Vronsky are staged in Neumeier's play after the scene of the main character with her son, Seryozha (this is the only fragment separating the two duets). Tchaikovsky is replaced here by Schnittke (music for the film "Commissar"), which is identified with going not only beyond the habitual existence of the characters (contrast with the cozy atmosphere of the previous scene), but also beyond reality. The libretto for the play states that in the scene being analyzed, "Anna indulges in passionate dreams about Vronsky" ^{[14, p. 30]}. However, in the very next fragment of the ballet (a lacrosse game, which Neumeier corresponds to horse racing), the heroine informs Vronsky about her pregnancy, and what happens in the second duet corresponds to chapter XI of the second part of the novel (in which Anna first sinned with Vronsky). Thus, the choreographer does not give an exact explanation of how real what is happening between the characters in the second duet: either the heroine's thoughts come true, or vice versa. Most likely, here Neumeier seeks to reflect a certain border of consciousness where passion and fear of sin should unite ("She felt that at that moment she could not express in words that feeling of shame, joy and horror before this entry into a new life and did not want to talk about it"), which accurately conveys Tolstoy's words about feelings the heroines of the novel ^{[16, p. 151]}.

     At the beginning of the second duet of the main characters, after another light blackout, a subdued light of a blue hue lights up. Two chairs on the right side of the stage are still lying on the floor (nothing has changed since the first duet), and the third one on the left side of the stage is now standing again (after Anna's communication with her son). The figure of Vronsky appears in the open door with a pillow in his hands. Anna's performer stands on the stage with her arm outstretched. The dancer slowly steps forward and, as if bumping into the ballerina's hand, falls to the floor (on a pillow). Turning sharply in the direction of the heroine's gaze, he rises, touching her hand with his face. From this touch, the body of the performer Anna seems to break (she bends down sharply and squats, without taking her hands off her partner), after which the dancer lifts her onto his shoulder, turning her upside down. Strongly bent, the ballerina connects her brush with the dancer's brush, but suddenly convulsively breaks away and runs in the direction of the door. The dancer stops her, but the heroine, abruptly changing the direction of movement, runs to the fallen chairs and, picking up one of them, sits on it. Looking around in panic, she runs to a chair in another part of the stage, then back, but bumps into her partner's hand. Trying to fight, Anna's performer performs the grand rond de jambe, but, restrained by the dancer, abruptly throws her legs, and then bends them, bending from side to side. As if in slow motion, the ballerina makes a lunge with an inflection over the partner's arm, turning into a stroke and a "broken" turn. Ceasing to resist, she spreads her arms to the sides, and the performer of Vronsky (standing behind the ballerina) wraps his own around them. The dancers alternately throw their legs to the sides, as if trying to get rid of something. Anna's performer gets down on one knee, by this time her hair is loose (during the previous combination, the partner was sorting out the ballerina's hairstyle). Having risen, the heroine bypasses the dancer and hugs him from behind, then lies down on his back, having performed the support-passage. The performer of Vronsky again returns the dancer, who is trying to escape, raising her in support, during which she seems to step back. In the end, he lets go of the heroine, lying down on a pillow, and she goes to the door. Frozen in the doorway, Anna turns around. Obviously, having made the decision to stay, she closes both doors, while not taking her eyes off Vronsky sitting on the pillow.

     The next part of the duet begins: another, internally changed Anna approaches Vronsky. She stands on his knee (an element resembling an acrobatic trick), then, leaning on one of the partner's hands, changes position, lying down next to him on the pillow. Vignettes of the dancers' crossed and tense arms end with the performer Anna's hands groping the legs of the chair and putting it on the floor (she has to admit that now it will be like this). Having risen, the performer of Vronsky slowly removes the black velvet dress from the heroine (in which she is still dressed), and the ballerina remains in a translucent black jumpsuit. The stage light acquires a yellowish tint similar to that used in the second part of the first duet. With his hands clasped around his partner's waist, the dancer, kneeling, begins to move slowly (as if being in water) behind the ballerina, who performs wide, somewhat strange cross steps with a deep squat. Leaning over the shoulder of the performer Vronsky, the dancer, leaning on his knee, crosses her legs, then slides to the floor, bent into a "ring". The dancer takes her by the wrists and pulls her up, helping her to stand on pointe shoes. In this position, when the partner stands behind the ballerina, and she leans on his hands, fingers clenched into fists, the heroes perform graphic and sharply rhythmic foot movements (Anna: d?velopp?s with a shortened foot, IV position on pointe shoes, crossed legs on the whole foot, lifting one leg into the air in this position, throw in attitude forward with bending the body down and backward; Vronsky: throws from different legs in attitude forward with a shortened foot and backward with an extended one). Sometimes the dancers' legs cross each other: these ornaments plastically accurately and figuratively reflect the growing passion of the characters. The performer of Vronsky lifts the ballerina, at this time opening her legs and gathering them into a wrapped position. Having stopped behind the dancer on pointe shoes in the II position of the legs, the performer of Anna bends back strongly, reclining on the partner's arm. Having dragged the dancer in the arabesque position, the Vronsky performer lets her go. The heroine approaches the chair, lifted from the floor at the beginning of the duet, and grabs its back. At this time, the dancer begins to outline the silhouette of her body with her head, and then freezes behind her in an elbow position (the dancer's gathered legs are visible above the head of the ballerina bending over the chair). Left lying on the floor, the Vronsky performer takes the partner standing on pointe shoes in the wide II position by the legs and lifts her off the floor. Anna's performer bends her legs and lies down on the floor, simultaneously dropping a chair. Rolling across the stage, the dancers rise (the ballerina through a strong deflection back), and the heroine freezes on the partner's arm in a position ? la seconde with a shifted balance. From this position, the performer of Vronsky picks her up by the legs, turning her upside down, and begins to drive them in a circle; at the same time, the ballerina bends back strongly accentuated. Suddenly relaxing the tension, she steps aside and covers her face with her hands. The dancer approaches the heroine and touches her head, from which she, bending over, almost falls back. The partner lifts her almost limp body onto his shoulder and transfers it to a pillow lying by a chair on the left side of the stage. Dispassionately picking up a chair lying on the floor, Vronsky sits down on it without hesitation. Anna, as if with the last of her strength, crawls on the floor and, with her whole body gathered into a ball, hides under a chair, hugging one of its legs: she is probably not so sure that they will be able to build a new relationship instead of the destroyed old ones.

     So, in the second duet Anna and Vronsky Neumeier does not give an exact definition of how real what is happening between the characters. The choreographer rather reflects the borderline state between reality and sleep (stage light, Schnittke's music and the phantasmagoricity of the action indicate a dream, but the fact of Anna's pregnancy, which becomes clear at the next meeting of the characters, indicates reality). Neumeier continues to actively use the symbolism of such a decorative element as a chair, associating its movements with the collapse of the Karenin family and Anna's attempt to build a new relationship. Unlike the first duet, the presence of other characters is not included here – throughout the entire fragment, the main characters are alone on stage. Among the choreographic techniques characteristic of this duet, one can distinguish: acrobatic supports and solo acrobatic elements performed by a dancer; pas based on the flexibility of a ballerina; slow tempo movements alternating with syncopated, sharp accents.

     The third duetAnna and Vronsky becomes the first scene of the second act of the ballet, which begins with "the idyllic stay of Anna and Vronsky in Italy ... The decoration consists of a long wooden table with white legs and two transparent plastic chairs" ^{[18, p. 52]}. This duet alternates the works of both Tchaikovsky and Schnittke, which immediately distinguishes it from the first two. Tolstoy, describing the heroes' journey through Italy in the novel, makes a big difference between the characteristics of Anna's feelings and Vronsky's. "During this first period of her release and rapid recovery, Anna felt inexcusably happy and full of the joy of life," the author writes about the main character ^{[16, p. 461]}. Moreover, "the separation from her son, whom she loved, did not torment her at first" ^{[16, p. 462]}. Something else is said about the main character: "Vronsky meanwhile, despite the full realization of what he had desired for so long, was not completely happy. He soon felt that the fulfillment of his desire brought him only a grain of sand from the mountain of happiness that he expected" ^{[16, p. 462]}. Neumeier at the beginning of the duet does not distinguish between the state of the characters, and in the libretto indicates: "Anna is happy with Count Vronsky in Italy. However, thoughts of Seryozha, her son, do not leave her" ^{[14, p. 31]}.

     With the curtain opening, the audience sees Anna and Vronsky sitting at opposite ends of the table. In front of Anna – a book and a glass of wine, in front of Vronsky – a glass and postcards; Tchaikovsky's music sounds ("Memories of Florence"). The performer of the main character gets up and slowly approaches the heroine; teasing her, takes the glass. Then he sits on his knee and looks into the heroine's face, she gently touches his hair and returns to reading. Vronsky soon picks up the book as well, as if accidentally dropping it on the floor. Standing behind his partner, the dancer twice circles her head with his hand, then runs over her hand lying on the table. Anna's performer reaches for his face, then stands up, jokingly "crawling" under the partner's elbow. Holding hands and not separating, the dancers turn in turn, and the dancer kisses the hand of the performer Vronsky before putting it behind her head. In this position, the partner takes out the d?velopp?s forward (with an offset balance), from which she passes into a free grand rond de jambe with a turn and flying support. After walking a few steps deep into the stage, the dancer takes the ballerina by the shoulders, and she raises her leg to the side, performing a movement resembling a pendulum. Having intercepted the partner by the waist, the performer of Vronsky circles her, lifting her lightly into the air several times, and the ballerina alternates jumps (with bent legs) with playful, slightly mannered steps. She departs pas couru to the center of the stage, holding the hand of the performer Vronsky, who follows her and performs the grand rond de jambe. The dancer raises her leg in a la seconde, and the hand that does not let go of the partner "puts" on her waist. With this support, support is performed, supplemented by moving to the right side of the stage. Having stopped, the ballerina bends forward and backward, then, standing on the pointe, turns under the partner's hands (as if diving). Opening her leg in a la seconde and bending it in a wrapped position, the ballerina bends down (the partner supports her by the waist), then lies on the partner's shoulder and bends back. In this "inverted" support, the dancer turns the performer Anna, who has freely opened her arms, to face the hall. With her feet, she performs skids, after which the partner lowers her into the crossed attitude pose, and, taking her by the hand and by the leg, circles the tour lent. Wrapped in a pirouette, the dancers synchronously make an arabesque lunge and a small jump.

     After falling into her partner's arms, Anna runs after him to the table and, picking up the lying book, sits down on the floor, pretending to continue reading. At this time, Vronsky's performer, having run around the table, rolls under it on the floor and, reaching Anna, throws her book aside. Turning, he puts his head on her lap. Unable to resist, Anna's performer takes his hand and lies down next to him. Taking the partner by the legs, the dancer turns her at first without lifting her off the floor, then (putting the ballerina's legs on his shoulder) rises with her, holding her in a "lying" support on his shoulders. Jumping down easily, Anna runs around the table, dragging Vronsky with her: she spins in tours cha?n?s, he in jet? en tournant. Having taken off in a support resembling a somewhat modernized grand jet? entrelac?, the partner bends over the partner's arm again, and then, having gathered a "lump", clings to his shoulder. The dancer performs several solo pas: these are renvers? in the air and double tour en l'air. After the solo, he lifts the dreaming heroine in support with an inflection (both legs of the ballerina open d?velopp?), followed by a stroke in the partner's cross position. Throwing her leg wide grand battement to the side, the dancer turns soutenu and repeats this combination. Embracing the performer Vronsky and leaning on his shoulders, the ballerina makes a wide lunge with a backward bend; again gently embracing her lover (now standing exactly with her back to the auditorium), she leans back. After that, the partner intercepts her and, as if effortlessly, throws her over herself (at the same time, the ballerina ampliturally opens and gathers her legs through the twine). Spinning in the turns after the support, the dancer again makes a wide lunge, this time turning into a tour ? la second on pointe (the partner supports the ballerina by the waist, kneeling down and being under her foot). At the end of the rotation, the dancer puts the partner's leg on his shoulder and, standing up to his full height, lifts it into soaring support (one leg of the ballerina is in front of the partner's shoulder, the other is behind). In this position, the performer of Vronsky gives the heroine a hand, for which he then twists her in a pirouette. The dancers synchronously perform a combination with pli? on the II position of the legs, turns and jet? en tournant(this is probably how the choreographer shows that at this moment of the duet there are still no disagreements between the characters), after which they head to the table. Taking one of the postcards, Anna tears it apart and slowly walks to the chair where she was sitting at the beginning of the duet. After sitting down, the heroine begins to write a letter, and Vronsky rearranges his chair closer to her, stopping next to her.

     The stage light changes to a darker and bluish one; Tchaikovsky gives way to Schnittke (music for the cartoon "Glass Harmonica"): the next part of the duet is strikingly different from the previous one. Seryozha (Anna's son) appears from behind the scenes – crawling under a long table, he rolls a toy train. Obviously, the letter that Anna is writing is addressed to her son – with the help of the presence of a third character, Neumeier visualizes the thoughts of the main character. When the performer Sergei is next to the ballerina, she touches him and stands up, making a wide circle with her feet. Pushing aside the toy train (she tends to get rid of such obsessive thoughts as soon as possible), Anna's performer repeats the movements from the scene with her son in the first act. During this fragment, Schnittke is replaced by Tchaikovsky. Choreographic quotes are sometimes interrupted – perhaps some details have already begun to fade from the heroine's memory, but she stubbornly continues to remember. At the moment when the ballerina hugs her son, Vronsky's performer approaches her (the hero obviously does not see Seryozha) and takes her by the hand, starting to perform the first combination of this duet (d?velopp?s forward with his hand behind his partner's head, grand rond, turn, support). After the support, Vronsky expects Anna to go to the back of the stage, but she sees her son and goes to him, accidentally bumping into her lover… Hiding her disappointment, the dancer continues the combination already in the correct order (movement-pendulum, support, small jumps, steps), but, stopping as if in mid-sentence, she again goes to the performer Seryozha. Trying to attract her attention, the Vronsky performer turns her away in support (the ballerina opens her legs in a wide circle, then gathers them together), but this does not help. Anna comes up to the table, picks up the letter, kisses it and drops it (Sergei's performer immediately picks it up) – sends it to the address. Now the heroine readily gives her hand to her lover – the dancers continue the duet dance.

     Further bundles contain choreographic quotes from the first part of the duet, alternating with pas that have not yet met. The ballerina, being in a waltz position with her partner, performs a grand battement, then a tilt with a backward bend. Turning, she bends over the dancer's arm, lifting her leg forward, and this movement turns into a grand rond de jambe with a stroke. The ballerina's hands are open again freely – it seems that she has forgotten about her worries. Supported by a partner by the shoulders, she sits on the splits and, rising, pushes off for support, changing the position of her legs to a cross. Next, the partners perform high support, in which the partner holds the ballerina by the leg and shoulder. At the moment of completion of this bundle, Princess Sorokina appears from behind the scenes, and Anna's performer, immersed in her thoughts again, goes to the table and sits down, picking up a glass of wine. The performer of Vronsky looks after Sorokina, who has arisen in his thoughts – probably this is how Neumeier shows that Anna has ceased to be the only woman for him, reigning in his thoughts. But the hero is clearly struggling with the obsession – he impetuously approaches Anna, takes the glass and, bending over, lies back on the table, spreading his arms wide – demanding her attention and love. Anna's performer takes his hand and presses it to her neck, but at that moment Seryozha runs along the stage and the ballerina reaches out to him. Standing on the pointe in this endeavor, she rests her knee on the shoulder of the performer Vronsky, who in this position lifts her into the air. Anna pretends that she is completely carried away by her lover – she drags him along with her, plays with his hands, hugs, spreading her arms wide, kisses, strokes her head (after bending with her leg raised high forward). The performer of Vronsky circles the dancer almost above the floor (her legs are wide open), holding her shoulders. After that, the heroes sit on the floor and, holding hands, roll over in such a way as to be on their knees again. Anna's performer bends back, the dancer bends over her and lifts her to her feet in one movement. Standing next to her, the partner helps to perform the previously encountered dancer's turn under his own hands, passing into a further quote up to the "inverted" support and the subsequent crossed attitude. During this combination, the stage light gradually fades, and the characters remain in a light beam in the middle of a dark stage. Anna's performer repeats the pendulum movement, this time facing the auditorium; the dancers finish the bundle with support and hugs - it seems that harmony reigns between them again. But Anna, plunged into melancholy again, goes to get a book, and Vronsky, seeing this, takes out the lacrosse props and, although the heroine tries to hold him, begins to perform a gymnastic warm-up.

     At this moment, a Man with a large bag appears on the darkened part of the stage; during the musical pause, he stands behind the figure of Vronsky. Schnittke begins to sound and a ghostly yellow light floods the stage. The performer of Vronsky continues to do sports exercises, while periodically touching the Man and plastically interacting with him – the joint movements of the artists are saturated with acrobatic elements. All this time, the main character is sitting at the table, not looking up from the book. The Man's performer crawls under the table, and Vronsky, stumbling over a bag (in Neumeier's play symbolizing Anna's sins), approaches the heroine and sits down next to her. Stroking her lover on the head, Anna plunges back into reading, and Vronsky, convulsively grabbing a lacrosse shell, goes backstage.

     Taking advantage of his absence, Anna hurriedly takes out a bottle of medicine from her purse and drinks a pill, washed down with wine from a glass (what kind of medicine, Neumeier does not specify, probably – a kind of antidepressant). But then the Guy climbs on the table right in front of her. Horrified, Anna jumps up from her chair and runs after Vronsky, but the Man's performer stops her. Now begins the duet interaction of the Man and Anna, saturated with angular poses, sharp throws and coups. Wherever the main character tries to escape, the Man quietly catches up with her. Exhausted by the obsession, Anna climbs onto the table, but the Man catches up with her here, lifting, turning over and putting a chair on her head, on which the heroine had previously sat. Probably, this choreographic metaphor symbolizes the wrongness of the inverted relationship of the characters, which now clearly appears before Anna. The scene is plunged into darkness again.

     Behind the back of the chair, the Man's performer changes with Vronsky's performer. Looking there again, Anna sees Vronsky already and, frightened, covers her face with her hands. Schnittke is replaced by Tchaikovsky again, and Vronsky's performer carefully puts the chair back in place. Approaching the mortally frightened Anna, the hero gently takes her hand and kisses it. Anna snuggles up to him. She looks around warily, but no longer sees anything terrible and sits down in her former place. A choreographic reprise of the first part of the duet begins, during which the heroine often shudders and looks around fearfully. The heroes rise from the table without separating their hands, followed by a series of hugs, alternating turns. Meanwhile, Princess Sorokina is again passing in the background, whose appearance obviously emphasizes that the heroes can no longer achieve the former idyll.After the hugs, the dancers again quote the first dance combination of the duet, which Anna's performer interrupts by bending over the table. The performer of Vronsky takes her in his arms and gently carries her away from the table, which is beginning to move slowly to the wings. The characters, holding hands, stop in the middle of the stage and perform a combination of steps from the finale of the first duet – perhaps this symbolizes the return of their relationship to a more formal one. The heroine slowly raises her eyes to Vronsky and, taking her hand away, goes backstage, and on stage there is a change of scenery for Seryozha's room.

     So, the third duet becomes the longest among the three duets of Anna and Vronsky. It compiles the music of P. I. Tchaikovsky and A. G. Schnittke, which indicates the unification of the spheres touched upon by the choreographer in the first two duets. To Schnittke's music, the duet is interrupted by the appearance of other characters who have quite long fragments of interaction with each of the main characters (Anna and Seryozha, Vronsky and the Man, Anna and the Man). The main duet part of Anna and Vronsky is set to the music of Tchaikovsky. In it, all the dancers' movements naturally flow from one another, almost each of them is complemented by turns and smooth connecting pas; supports produce the effect of freedom and flight, are performed organically with the help of force, without struggle and syncopation. At the same time, the choreography, as in previous duets, is extremely intense and all manifestations of the feelings of the characters are reflected plastically (pantomime is practically not used). Neumeier does not make a clear distinction between the characters' perception of what is happening between them: during the third duet, each of them gradually realizes that harmony is beginning to break down, and each in his own way is burdened by joint solitude.

     A detailed analysis of the dance score of the three duets of Anna and Vronsky made it possible to identify classical, modern and innovative author's solutions related to the new research results. In the analyzed dance fragments, Neumeier uses such staging means as the compilation and alternation of the music of P. I. Tchaikovsky and A. G. Schnittke; the use of images-symbols and their inclusion in the choreographic canvas of duets (chair, door, man's bag); the appearance of other characters (the first and third duet); the use of stage lighting to accentuate transitions from reality into the sphere of the subconscious; active choreographic development based on a technically saturated duet dance, replete with high supports in the neoclassical style, as well as acrobatic elements; semantic use of plastic quotes and choreographic calls. It can be concluded that in order to develop the images and relationships of Anna Karenina and Alexey Vronsky, the choreographer chooses a duet as the dominant musical and choreographic form. Moreover, in his version of Anna Karenina, J. Neumeier makes the three duets of the main characters a key component of the performance and the author's interpretation of the images of the main characters.