Eifman Ballet’s ‘Red Giselle’ delves into a famed Russian ballerina’s mental breakdown

She was considered a dancer for the ages, the embodiment of the romantic ballerina, renowned for the spirituality of her dancing.

Olga Spessivtseva, one of Russia’s foremost and well-acclaimed ballerinas of the 20th century, was most famous for “Giselle,” a ballet in which a peasant girl goes mad from a broken heart after discovering her lover is betrothed to another.

The romantic ballet seemed to be an extension of Spessivtseva’s existence.

While on a world tour in the 1930s, Spessivtseva, who occasionally danced under the name “Spessiva,” suffered the first of a series of mental breakdowns.

She gave her last performance in 1937 and settled in New York, where she had lived for many years after recovering from paranoia and delusions that curtailed her career.

The story is Boris Eifman’s choreographic essay, “Red Giselle,” a narrative ballet dedicated to Spessivtseva after Eifman learned of the ballerina’s fall along with other artists who met similar fates when forced to leave Russia.

Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg will return to Segerstrom Center for the Arts performing “Red Giselle,” from June 16 to 18. The North American tour is in celebration of Eifman Ballet’s 40th anniversary.

Eifman said he was drawn to Spessivtseva’s story after he learned the esteemed dancer spent 20 years in a mental clinic, alone and deprived of her rights.

“The great dancer had a truly tragic fate,” Eifman said. “She shone on the stages of the Mariinsky Theatre and the Grand Opera, worked with outstanding figures of the ballet art of the 20th century and was rightfully considered an unsurpassed performer of the role of Giselle.”

“But her mental fragility, multiplied by the trials that fell to Spessivtseva’s share — terrible events of the Russian revolution, forced emigration, unhappy love — doomed the ballerina to a mental catastrophe,” Eifman said.

“It is this dramatic contrast between the lifetime creative demand for Olga Spessivtseva and her subsequent immersion into oblivion that deeply shocked me, prompted me to create the performance,” he said.

Eifman said the ballet is not a biographical play, as he does not delve into the details of her life, but gives a portrait of a generation of people who left their country and became wanderers.

“It’s like a combination of dance and theater, which makes it so unique,” said Judy Morr, Segerstrom Center’s executive vice president and principal dance programmer. “Boris creates a visual picture of history and he generously makes this subject matter into art.”

“Red Giselle” is at 7:30 p.m. June 16, 2 and 7:30 p.m. June 17 and 1 p.m. June 18. Segerstrom Center for the Arts is at 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Tickets start at $29. For more information, call (714) 556-2787 or visit scfta.org.

kathleen.luppi@latimes.com

Twitter: @KathleenLuppi