Eifman's dancers: on the record.

Why should this year be any different? Controversy will hover in the air when the Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg launches its annual American tour this month. The fare will include the premiere of Anna Karenina, revivals of Don Juan & Moliere, and Red Giselle. Despite the company's popularity, dissenters often accuse Boris Eifman of indulging in over-the-top theatrics. But, after all, says DANCE MAGAZINE correspondent Elena Kunikova, "good taste is just that, a matter of taste."

What can't be disputed is the dedication of the dancers who bring these ballets to life. We asked Kunikova to interview two of the company's outstanding principals, Albert Galichanin and Vera Arbouzova, about Eifman the choreographer, Eifman the man, and what drew them into his world.

ALBERT GALICHANIN "In 1988, after five years in Perm, I was accepted by St. Petersburg's Maly Theater as a leading soloist. Times were tough; I had many personal problems. Boris Eifman invited me to join his then fairly new company, and promised to help. He is always ready to do anything at all possible for his dancers, fie would make a great businessman.

"What I like and value most, is that I get to dance things choreographed for me personally, not for somebody else a hundred years before me. His shows are not just ballets but choreo-dramas where tire drama part is most important. Eifman has a unique approach: He creates the show as a whole, trying to express the spiritual through the physical

"I adore the Kirov, but they are not innovators, they don't take chances. The Kirov only stages established choreographers, and thus keeps its reputation and purity. The Bolshoi Ballet these days is taking more risk with new works.

"I have had many offers to join Western companies. Life in the West would probably be more financially secure, but the strained conditions in Russia compel ingenuity in art. I am studying arts management and hope to work for Boris Eifman's company when I stop dancing."

VERA ARBOUZOVA "The Eifman Ballet company director saw me at a festival in Minsk and invited me to join. For a year and a half I danced in the company's corps, since it was difficult to catch Eifman's style after eight years of classical ballet training. My real break came with Red Giselle--my hard-earned favorite. Right after that, Eifman cast me as Catherine the Great in Russian Hamlet. It was very difficult, since these two characters are so different. Every new role is a new life. If you dance Odette or Kitri, you are compared with all your predecessors. Here you are the first one, it's like painting or composing music--you never know the end result in advance.

"Eifman has his own style--it is not modern or neoclassical. From his dancers he demands emotional involvement, which takes dramatic talent. Most of our dancers have less than perfect ballet physiques, but amazing plasticity and a burning desire to work. Dancing for Eifman is not easy. We have to be flexible, and communicate with hint well The staging period is always hard, eight or nine-hour days. We prepare a one-act show in two months (an unheard-of luxury in the West) and then we polish it to perfection.

"Lately it has became fashionable to criticize Eifman. I would imagine, if he had read all that criticism, he would not have created 40 ballets, and would not have won every imaginable ballet award in Russia!"

The Eifman Ballet's six-city, tour begins May 18 at the Cutler Majestic Theater, Boston, and concludes June 26 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles. www.ardani.com.

EDITED BY ALLAN ULRICH