That the great works of art transcend time, place, and history is a lesson to be learned in many ways. Author and professor Azar Nafisi teaches that in her excellent memoir “Reading Lolita in Tehran.” And choreographer Boris Eifman is hoping to make a similar point onstage this week at City Center. His company – Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg – is presenting a contemporary ballet interpretation of “Anna Karenina.” “The novel was written in 19th century, but it can feel very [real] in our lives,” said Mr. Eifman, through a translator. “Love stories are eternal stories.”

Mr. Eifman is known for grappling with psychological and deeply emotional aspects of characters in his ballet. And this version of “Anna Karenina” is in keeping with his cerebral approach. While staying true to the novel’s essential plot elements, Mr. Eifman concentrated on the character’s motivations and intents.

“I moved deeply to her love story,” he said. “I tried to open the unknown part of her, as opposed to the known. I tried to make my own psychological analysis of that well-known love story.”

That analysis came from reading and thinking about the novel. So what did he find and what does this ballet have to say?

First, he was surprised to see how closely dependent Anna was on the men in her life. (And, after considering it, he concluded that Anna wasn’t so unusual in her dependence.) While Mr. Eifman spent some time mulling over the thoughts of Anna’s husband and lover, the key is the female character: “Anna was most important.”

But he also sought to bring out the fact that Anna is no sad sack. “I’m showing that her suicide wasn’t a fact of her depression. It’s not a tragedy of the broken woman. “This is the tragedy of a woman with passion: the fight inside of her between two persons brought her to this catastrophe.”

To emphasize the duality in Anna’s mind – and in the human mind – Mr. Eifman chose to use costumes that visually represent the idea of opposites. The costumes designed by Slava Okunev are mainly black and white. To draw out an evil side of her character, Mr. Eifman composed an electronic score to go along with a more classical score.

Mr. Eifman – who studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory – used a great deal of music composed by Tchaikovsky, including fragments from Suites 1, 2, and 3, “Romeo and Juliet,” and Symphonies 1, 2, and 6. Each of these selections was brought together for a specific effect: “I tried to express new emotional possibilities of the music through the story.”

Indeed, Mr. Eifman is shooting for a lofty goal of creating “new relations between the stage and the audience.” What he wants to give the audience is something unusual, something particularly energetic, to spark emotion. Previously Mr. Eifman has been quite successful with such endeavors. His style is hauntingly dark and suggestive, yet sleek and contemporary, all the while firmly rooted in ballet vocabulary.

Getting him to describe his own style is not easy. He’s no fan of categorizing his work as expressionistic, postmodern, or anything so clear-cut. “I will not dare to describe the style. I’ve done a lot in my life, but I would like to do more. I would like to be open for any experiment and new changes in my style.”

One thing’s for sure. Though the scale of this production – two acts, each about 45 minutes – seems standard, this is a large work. Mr. Eifman says it’s a milestone: “This is the most expensive production I’ve done in my career.”

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Also this week is a ballet version of another great story: “Don Quixote” by Cervantes. American Ballet Theatre begins its run of this ballet tonight at the Metropolitan Opera House. The ballet uses the novel’s plot lightly; expect to be dazzled by masterful, festive dance rather than gripped by existential truths.

Yet there is something meaningful here, as George Balanchine himself noted: “Every man wants an inspiration. For the Don, it was Dulcinea, a woman he sought in many guises. I myself think that the same is true in life, that everything a man does he does for his ideal woman. You live only one life and you believe in something and I believe in that.”

While all of the casts slated for ABT’s “Don Quixote” will dance up a storm, the leads on Wednesday night will be extra special. Julio Bocca – a principal with the company since 1986 – will dance this ballet for the last time. Mr. Bocca has been gradually retiring the roles that are the most physically difficult.

“It’s one of the hardest ballets for the man,” Mr. Bocca told me. “You’re jumping around all the time. It’s very free, but it’s very technical. Also, I’ve been doing it for so many years. The first time I danced the pas de deux, I was 15 years old.”

According to Mr. Bocca, the hardest part is that pas de deux in Act III. The challenge is not the choreography, but the simple fact that it comes in Act III, the final portion of a long, demanding ballet. Then there’s the costume. “You have to dress in white, and I hate it. In the Bolshoi version, you wear black,” he said.

Mr. Bocca is still very much dancing this season, and he’s eager to perform in roles that call for more theatricality. “I’m looking forward to ‘Petrouchka’ and ‘Onegin’ pas de deux. I’m doing both for the first time. There’s more acting,” he said. His performances will include “Petrouchka” on June 18 and June 20; “Onegin” pas de deux (with his longtime partner, Ms. Ferri) May 27 and June 1; and “Raymonda” June 7 and 9.