Anna Karenina

ACH Theatre

Dance performance “Anna Karenina” to music by Alfred Schnittke, based on motifs from Leo Tolstoy’s novel

Director and choreographer – Anželika Cholina
Set designer – Marijus Jacovskis
Costume designer – Juozas Statkevičius

The performance features 16 dancers from Anželika Cholina Dance Theatre, the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, State Small Theatre of Vilnius, Kaunas State Musical Theatre, other companies across the country, and the ACH Youth Company.

“Anna Karenina” is a legendary performance, one of the most remarkable and audience-loved productions by choreographer Anželika Cholina and the ACH Theatre she founded. Since its premiere in 2010, “Anna Karenina” has travelled a long and impressive road, earning applause from audiences in Lithuania and abroad. To date, it has been performed 127 times and seen by a record-breaking number of people—nearly 80,000—an astonishing figure that best illustrates the performance’s success and its undiminished audience appeal.

For audiences, “Anna Karenina” is an opportunity each time to relive the heroine’s great and fragile love story, one that awakens even the most reserved person’s feelings. Regardless of nationality, age, or outlook, the performance’s most devoted fans return again and again to experience this miracle created on stage by A. Cholina. Some have seen it for the fifth or sixth time, because this story touches people universally and prompts reflection on what matters to each of us: happiness, freedom, and the meaning and meaninglessness of life.

So we have long-awaited news for all fans of A. Cholina and this legendary performance! At your request, after a break of several years, “Anna Karenina” is returning and will undoubtedly be a special highlight of ACH Theatre’s latest, 27th season!!! Having heard countless requests to bring the performance back to the theatre’s repertoire, at least for a short time, we can confirm that audiences will have a unique opportunity to see once again this masterpiece, awarded the Golden Stage Cross for choreography in 2011, which has already left an indelible mark on the history of dance theatre in Lithuania.

The return is especially significant because the leading role will once again be performed by ACH Theatre’s longtime principal soloist Beata Molytė, who has embodied Anna Karenina since the very first premiere. Audiences will have the chance to admire this timeless and always impeccable star’s mastery of movement, expressive and emotional dancing, and dramatic performance not only in Vilnius and Kaunas, but also in several other Lithuanian cities.

Other memorable characters are brought to life by well-known dance soloists Ernestas Barčaitis, Rūta Lataitė, Paulina Čistovaitė, and Stefanija Nosovaitė, as well as drama actors and audience favourites Mantas Vaitiekūnas, Leonardas Pobedonoscevas, and others.

In writing “Anna Karenina,” L. Tolstoy spoke for the first time about a woman’s right to happiness and personal choice, and about how a woman should not become a tool for a man’s vanity and gratification—an enormous provocation in the conservative, patriarchal European society of the time. It is therefore unsurprising that the author gave the heroine, who defied society, such a dramatic ending, one that has become part of the history of literature, cinema, and theatre and continues to inspire creators across genres around the world.

Even today, nearly 150 years after the novel’s publication, Anna Karenina’s story is understood everywhere. It is universal, stirs powerful emotions, and, thanks to choreographer A. Cholina, has been reborn as a dance drama that has enchanted thousands of viewers.

“When I met Beata Molytė, then a ballet soloist at Klaipėda Musical Theatre, I understood: this is my Anna,” says A. Cholina. Discovering the soloist for the leading role inspired her to create the performance. Their creative partnership has lasted for many years, and B. Molytė has also created leading roles in other A. Cholina productions.

The set was designed by Marijus Jacovskis, and the costumes and makeup by Juozas Statkevičius, making the performance a particularly rich aesthetic experience for audiences.

“When creating, I do not seek to confine my performances to any particular genre; I am interested in creating life itself on stage. A full, multilayered life, like the one L. Tolstoy describes in his novel. He weaves so much into it that one can lose one’s way—as in the face of life’s very complexity. I tried to distil what seemed important to me, what exists in the present and is relevant to today’s audience,” says A. Cholina.

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IMPORTANT! As part of our ongoing efforts to encourage the tradition of cultural patronage in Lithuania, we invite you to support the future of the independent ACH Theatre, which is funded by its own resources, by purchasing a special PATRON TICKET for all our performances, priced higher than a regular ticket. Your support enables our theatre to plan new premieres, maintain a professional company of performers, tour throughout Lithuania—including more remote regions where professional performing arts are less accessible—and maintain the artistic and technical quality of our productions. The steadily growing sales of these tickets show us that we are truly not alone. Thank you to every current and future supporter of ACH Theatre!

We also seek to create positive change in society and help shape a new approach to cultural patronage in our country. Two years ago, we took the lead in educating young people and fostering a new generation of cultural patrons. We are continuing this initiative in the new season for all young people aged 15–24: they can still buy FUTURE PATRON TICKETS for all ACH Theatre performances and watch from a special row alongside the Theatre’s Patrons. Young people can purchase these tickets with a 50% discount already applied. When attending the performance, they need only present a document proving their age along with their ticket. We are confident that giving young people the opportunity to see our theatre’s performances under these special conditions helps foster a generation of young people in Lithuania who care about theatre, art, and culture!

For purchases of 10 or more tickets, please contact: vipklie