The fourth international festival of contemporary choreography “context. Diana Vishneva. What you need to know about the CONTEXT festival: Diana Vishneva and Sofya Kapkova tell
In five years, the CONTEXT Festival, created by the prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater and the American Ballet Theater Diana Vishneva, has turned into the main show of talents in the world of contemporary dance. Thanks to him, we saw in Moscow the top international troupes Maurice Béjart Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, Gauthier Dance and Introdans, as well as productions by world-famous choreographers Hans van Manen, Jiri Kilian and Ohad Nakharin.
ELLE found out which festival events are worth paying attention to this year.
Evening of young choreographers
November 12 at 18:00 at the Gogol Center (Moscow)
November 16 at 19:00 at Erarta Scene (St. Petersburg)
The competition of young choreographers, held annually at CONTEXT, opened the world to directors, without whom the world of modern dance in Russia cannot be imagined today - Vladimir Varnava, Lilia Burdinskaya and Konstantin Keichel. The birth of new stars will take place before your eyes: after viewing all the works of the finalists, an expert jury will select the winner, who will go on an internship in one of the world's leading dance companies.
Documentary "Paris Opera"
The film directed by French director Jean-Stefan Bron, which received this year's St. George for Best Documentary at the Moscow Film Festival, will take you behind the scenes of the famous Opera and Ballet Theatre. Current director Stefan Lissner and leading artists and directors will talk about how the temple of arts functions today. Special attention we advise you to turn the dancer and choreographer Benjamin Millepied, as well as the young star of the Opera of the Russian baritone Mikhail Timoshenko, to Natalie Portman's husband.
Gala-opening of the festival “CONTEXT. Diana Vishneva»
In just over two hours of the gala evening, you will learn everything about modern choreography. It will host the world premiere of Asunder by the Spanish choreographer Goyo Montero, which was created especially for the festival. Wayne McGregor, the American genius Justin Peck and the talented Belgian Sidi Larbi Sherkaoui will show their work as Time magazine's "choreographer of the decade" according to Time magazine. The pearl of the evening promises to be the performance of the Italian ballerina Alessandra Ferri, who resumed her career four years ago at the age of 50.
Ballet "Nijinsky"
November 14 and 15 at 20:00 at the Theater. Moscow City Council (Moscow)
November 18 at 19:00 at the Bolshoi Theater named after G.A. Tovstonogov (St. Petersburg)
What is the best way to talk about the life of a great dancer? Of course, with the help of dance. This is what the young German choreographer Marco Gecke did when he staged a ballet about the controversial genius of dance, Vaclav Nijinsky. His performance lasts only an hour and a half, but manages to touch on almost all periods of the life of the dance genius Vaslav Nijinsky, including collaboration with Diaghilev's Russian Seasons and last years when the artist was battling schizophrenia. And yet "Nijinsky" is not a biography in pure form. Hecke, who is called the main choreographic discovery of the 21st century, raises a lot of philosophical problems in the performance and manages to speak about them boldly and unbanally.
Documentary "Maiko: The Dancing Child"
The picture of the Norwegian director Åse Svenheim Drivenes tells about the Japanese ballerina Maiko Nishino, whose fate was predetermined before her birth - her family decided to dedicate the girl to dance and gave her a name, which in Japanese means "dancing child". Maiko fulfilled the wish of her parents: at the age of 14, she went to one of the best dance schools Europe, and at 32 she became the prima ballerina of the Norwegian National Ballet troupe. However, everything changes when Maiko decides to start her own family and have a baby.
Ballets by Stravinsky
The performance runs for more than three hours, but it's worth it - at the Stravinsky Ballets you will have the opportunity to see the work of three leading Russian choreographers Vladimir Varnava, Vyacheslav Samodurov and Alexei Miroshnichenko at once. One-act ballets "Petrushka", "Kiss of the Fairy" and "The Firebird" will be performed by the dancers of the troupe of the Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre, which is called one of the brightest and most promising teams in the country.
The legendary Diana Vishneva and the world's best ballets on one stage.
On the home stage hometown dances one of the most outstanding artists of our time. Diana Vishneva - laureate of the State Prize of Russia, the best dancer in Europe, winner of six Golden Mask awards and many other awards, she gives the public not only her art of movement, but also introduces the latest innovations in modern choreography.
Diana Vishneva, People's Artist of Russia, Art Director of the festival “Context. Diana Vishneva":
"Well, if dance is my life, then the festival is, you know, a brainchild, yes, which I really cherish, cherish, grow. Together with my team, along with those people who come to visit us. And insanely inspire , madly get happiness from that relationship between us, like on stage so and in life."
Together with the French artist, artistic director of the Paris Opera troupe Aurelie Dupont and choreographer Ohad Naarin, Diana Vishneva worked on the production of Bolero. There are no classical ballet poses in it, and the dancers merge in synchronous movements, while maintaining their individuality.
Sofia Kapkova, CEO Festival "Context. Diana Vishneva":
"We show what modern choreography is. Although today very often people come and are surprised that this is not a dramatic performance and this is not a full-fledged ballet. However, interest is definitely growing, and mathematics - the dry science of numbers - if in the first year when the festival opened we had about 2.5 thousand viewers, this year we are already close to the figure of 9 thousand".
The festival "Context" is dance companies with world-famous names, educational workshops, a competition for young choreographers and even a film program. The audience was shown films about the work of famous choreographers and dancers, including Mats Ek, Sasha Waltz, Mikhail Baryshnikov.
Film fragment
The production of "Come in" in 2006 for Mikhail Baryshnikov and his troupe was created by Canadian choreographer Azur Barton. And then she rethought her work with the artists of the National Ballet School of Canada. It turned out exclusively male version dance. Young men representing it in Russia: from 14 to 19 years old. And perhaps some of them will reappear on the Russian stage in the near future.
Sean Amilho, tutor at the National Ballet School of Canada: "Our students of past years are now studying at the Vaganova Academy, we do not nationalize artists. Yes, many remain in the National Ballet Company of Canada, but we train dancers who can work in any team. Two girls joined the troupe of the Netherlands Dance Theater last year, several dancers in Düsseldorf."
Exercise at the barre and allegro in the middle of the hall - their usual daily exercise this time, students from Canada performed Boris Eifman in front of the students of the Academy of Dance.
Sofia Kybartaite, student of the Boris Eifman Dance Academy: " It is very interesting to observe the work at the lesson, because when we are in the theater at the performance itself, this is one impression, and when you are at the lesson, you see it from a completely different angle, how people work.
Canadian students - for the first time shared their experience in this format. But for the St. Petersburg Academy of Dance, such master classes are not new. Always invited here famous teachers, including foreign ones.
Elena Kuzmina, Honored Artist of Russia, Deputy. director for special disciplines of the Boris Eifman Dance Academy:
"There were a lot of very interesting master classes. They came from Holland, from America on jazz Bob Borez came. Now I don’t even remember everyone, but we had such blocks, that is, here are a few people who come and take our guys into circulation. And it's very interesting, very useful. We have already understood that after such infusions, children change so much, they become different - freer, more liberated."
You can also chop wood on the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre. Natural scenery and human nature, in the production of "The Ax" by the Swedish choreographer Mats Ek. There are two people in the center of the performance, a man doing his daily work and a woman who perceives his actions as violence. This is the final teamwork an intellectual choreographer, as Eka is called, and his wife, the great dancer Ana Laguna.
Mats Ek, choreographer (Sweden): "I try to do things that I like, that are close to me, hoping that other people will read it later. I do not strive to satisfy the tastes of the audience, because it is difficult to imagine what others like. That is, I try to convey my point of view in the dance with the hope that others will perceive it."
Cycle of memories, dance-meditation with a reference to ancient traditions - in the play « In memoriam" by the Dutch team "Introdance". Continuation of the development of neoclassicism, another reading of Bach's music - from the director Alonso Kinga. The festival "Context" is expanding its geography every year, and in the future it promises to expand its program.
Yulia Mikhanova, Anton Golubev, Oleg Podyachev, Ekaterina Gorbacheva, Valentina Govorushkina and Vladimir Pivnev, Channel One - St. Petersburg.
In the program of the festival CONTEXT. DIANA VISHNEVA - performances by leading bands from Sweden, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada and the USA, final of the competition for young choreographers, creative meetings, workshops, master classes and film screenings.
For the first time, the opening of the festival will be held at the Musical Theater. K.S. Stanislavsky and Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko. Permanent venues for the festival the Gogol Center and the Stanislavsky Electrotheatre will remain.
Art Director of the festival Diana Vishneva
“This year CONTEXT. DIANA VISHNEVA expands its geography. It will be held not only in Moscow, but also in my hometown, on the historical stage of the Mariinsky Theatre.
I have long planned to bring the festival to St. Petersburg, therefore I am very glad that we succeeded, largely thanks to the support Valeria Gergiev.
One of the main events of the festival will be the arrival of Mats Ek and Ana Laguna. An outstanding choreographer recently announced his retirement, therefore, we are particularly honored that he agreed to show his latest production, which his wife and muse will present,
Moscow audience will be able to see three productions of the Maurice Béjart Ballet troupe at once. The group will show the ballet of its founder Maurice Bejart - "Im Chambre Séparée" and, for the first time in Russia, will present productions of "The Color of the Blues" and "Like Fallen from the Moon" by the maestro's successor, Gilles Roman.
Dance Theater Lucerne will present one of the latest productions by Georg Reisch - "UP/Beat", as well as "Solo" from the production "chaMOODim", created especially for the CONTEXT festival. Diana Vishneva.
Ana Laguna will perform in a duet with Ivan Auceli staged by Mats Ek's Ax (AXE).
In honor of the 110th anniversary of Dmitri Shostakovich, American choreographer Alonso King - artistic director of the Alonzo King LINES Ballet - will present a ballet inspired by the works of the Russian composer at the festival. His troupe will perform productions of "Writing Ground Quintet" and "Concerto for Two Violins".
The Introdans troupe, which has already taken part in CONTEXT twice, will come to the northern capital for the first time. Diana Vishneva. The Dutch will show two performances: "Cantata" and "In Memoriam". The young team of the National Ballet School of Canada will present the work “Come in”, originally created by Azur Barton for Mikhail Baryshnikov.
Diana Vishneva herself is preparing a special performance for the audience in Moscow and St. Petersburg. She will perform together with the outstanding French ballerina Aurélie Dupont. The duet will present a production of choreographer Ohad Naarin "B/olero".
One of the key events festival CONTEXT. DIANA VISHNEVA will become the final of the competition for young choreographers, which will be held on November 16 and 17 on the stage of the Stanislavsky Electrotheatre.
Six participants will present their work: Sofia Gaidukova, Pavel Glukhov, Maria Siukaeva, Olga Vasilyeva, Rimma Pipoyan, Alexey Busko.
“The main goal of the competition is to support the development of contemporary dance in Russia. Our task is to give every novice choreographer the opportunity to realize their ideas, believe in themselves, receive constructive criticism and advice from the masters, ” says the curator of the competition, teacher of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia Anastasia Yatsenko.
The winner of the competition for young choreographers will receive a grant for an internship in one of the leading foreign troupes from the watch brand Jaquet Droz. In addition to the main prize, for the first time within CONTEXT. Diana Vishneva one of the participants of the competition will be awarded the Audience Award - it will be provided by the partner of the Festival "Intellectual Club 418".
Maria Siukaeva (Moscow) — participant in the finals of the competition for young choreographers As part of the international festival CONTEXT. DIANA VISHNEVA a series of creative meetings ContextSpeaks will be launched in the format of open conversations with outstanding choreographers and dancers about art, career and life.
On November 15, the Gogol Center will host ContextSpeaks: “A conversation with a choreographer. Mats Ek and Samuel Würsten. As part of the evening, the Russian premiere of Mats Ek's film-ballet Place, which was filmed in broadcast mode, will take place. The ballet was created especially for Mikhail Baryshnikov and Ana Laguna.
This year the educational program is designed for both industry professionals and the general public.
For the first time, a series of workshops will be held at the festival.
Vita Khlopova, researcher of modern choreography and founder of the No fixed points project, will conduct dance criticism classes.
Theater photographer Mark Olic will share the features of shooting ballet performances. Professional makeup artist and beauty blogger Elena Krygina reveal the secrets of stage make-up. For dancers and choreographers, master classes will be held by leading foreign directors of contemporary dance.
The film program will include films about the best contemporary choreographers and great dancers. Film participants became such masters as: Alonso King, Sasha Waltz, Benjamin Millepied, Ohad Naharin, Mats Ek, Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Ana Laguna.
“The focus of this year's film program is choreographers. Often, for the public, their names remain in the shadows, but it is they who actualize the context of classical productions and push the horizons of modern choreography.
It is their work that the public applauds, sometimes without even knowing the name of the creators of the new masterpiece. The Context film program in the Color House will allow you to get to know them much better: what the creative method of these choreographers was born from, what stands behind them, how they work.
Only documentary films allow us to see this process without distortion,”
Tomorrow, November 24, the third international festival of contemporary choreography Context starts in Moscow. Diana Vishneva. On the eve of its opening HELLO.RU as official partner publishes a program that includes lectures, master classes, film screenings, as well as performances by foreign dance companies and young choreographers from Russia. It will be possible to meet the art director of the festival, ballerina Diana Vishneva, at almost every event, and on the opening and closing days, Diana will take the stage of the Mossovet Theater in a Live production by the famous Dutch choreographer Hans van Manen. Context Festival. Diana Vishneva will last until November 28, among those who plan to visit it, there are many famous people. In case of admission additional information the program will be updated on this page.
Main events of the festival
Troupe Introdans (Netherlands) with the program "Dutch Masters"
The name Introdans can be deciphered as "introduction to dance". The task of the troupe, created in 1971 in the Dutch city of Arnhem, is to introduce wide sections of the population to modern choreography. In the performances of Introdans, the intricate modern technique is combined with the usual classical steps, so that the whole spectacle turns out to be fascinating and understandable even to inexperienced spectators.
This year, the audience will get acquainted with the works of six contestants, as well as the opus of the winner of last year's competition, choreographer Lilia Burdinskaya. The name of the young dancer from St. Petersburg was first heard loudly in 2011, when she spent more than 30 hours in a continuous dance. This performance was watched by thousands of viewers of the Internet broadcast.
Final of the competition for young choreographers
World premiere of Man of the Hour by Itzik Galili (Israel)
Itzik Galili started in Tel Aviv with folk dances, then moved to the Netherlands, achieved worldwide recognition as a choreographer, and after 20 years of emigration returned to Israel. Galili puts on performances all over the world, including in Russia. This time he will present in Moscow a completely new production - a reflection on the fate of his homeland - created with the participation of artists from the Israeli Opera.
Production of Man of the Hour by choreographer Itzik Galili (Israel)
Brenda Angiel Aerial Dance Company (Argentina)
Buenos Aires-based choreographer Brenda Anhiel's dance troupe performs Argentinean tango mixed with hip-hop and modern aerial choreography using hanging ropes. Their breathtaking dance is called "tango on the moon", and, of course, there is something cosmic in it. In Moscow, the troupe will show the performance 8cho ("ocho" means "eight") to the accompaniment of the Argentine sextet and vocalist Alejandro Guyo.
The American dance company, founded in 1929 by the classic of modern choreography Martha Graham, is considered one of the greatest in the world. Martha Graham, who passed away in 1991, had never been to the USSR, just as her troupe had never been to Russia before. The program of the evening includes two masterpieces created by Martha Graham: Rigger's anti-war production of Chronicle (1936) and Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring (1984), as well as a modern production of Lamentation Variations (2007) set to music by Mahler, dedicated to the tragedy of September 11 .
Martha Graham Dance Company (USA)
Screening program at the Documentary Film Center
As part of the festival Context. Diana Vishneva in Moscow for the first time will present a showcase of the largest film festival about dance and choreography, the San Francisco Dance Film Festival, which includes five films that reveal the secrets of the backstage - the creation of the production "Lake of Swans" with a real pond as a scenery, the education of young dancers or personal stories, who influenced the formation of great artists and choreographers.
Poster for the movie "Never Stop"
Poster for the film "Rare Birds"
November 28, 13:00 - creative meeting with the artistic director of the dance company Martha Graham dance company Janet Eilber
Poster for the film "Six Seasons"
From October 15 to November 6, Moscow and St. Petersburg will host the sixth international festival of contemporary choreography Context. Diana Vishneva. The festival program includes a dance criticism laboratory and a theater photography workshop, master classes for dancers and public talks, online screenings of documentary films about dance, but the most interesting for an inexperienced viewer is, of course, performances, the choice of which, as always, is varied and unbanal.
"National Ballet of Canada":
Canadians are the cutest people on the planet
At the evening of one-act ballets (October 15 and 16 in Moscow, October 19 in St. Petersburg), the National Ballet of Canada, coming to Russia for the first time, will show the work of three choreographers - Crystal Pite, Justin Peck and Guillaume Cote.
Crystal Pite is one of the most important modern choreographers, the winner of various prizes and awards, the creator of her own dance troupe Kidd Pivot, which is based in Vancouver. A student of William Forsythe, who has never trained professionally in classical ballet, Pyte is famous for her dizzying technique and non-trivial sense of humor. The works of the famous Canadian are staged all over the world, and many troupes - from NDT to the Royal Opera House in London - are happy to have her productions in their repertoire. This spring, the Opera de Paris presented an evening of one-act works, including Pite's Canon of the Seasons.
An example of the choreographic style of Crystal Pite
Crystal Pite dances solo in her teacher William Forsythe's production
The Canon of the Seasons by Crystal Pite at the Opera de Paris
Retelling Pite's work is pretty pointless, you have to see it with your own eyes. They will not have a gentle prince in a camisole or a girl who looks like a spring rose, but there will be a lot of strength, struggle and philosophical reflection. The festival will show Emergence 2009, which was awarded the theater award "Dora" in the categories "Best Production", "Best New Choreography", " Best Performance” and “Best musical arrangement". Surprisingly, Pite drew inspiration for this work from Steven Johnson's non-fiction book Emergence: the Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities and Software, which talks about what an ant colony has in common, human brain and software for global retailer websites.
Emergence trailer
Justin Peck is a dancer and the youngest resident choreographer in the history of the New York City Ballet (and no, prima ballerina Tyler Peck is not related to him). Like many Americans, for example, David Holberg, he began his dancing career with tap dancing lessons, and at the age of 13 he saw Giselle and realized that he really wanted to try on those wonderful white tights.
Peck studied at the School of American Ballet at the New York City Ballet and upon graduation was logically accepted into the company, and soon earned a position as a staff choreographer. America adores Justin Peck, praising the lightness and virtuosity of his creations. In 2018, he received the prestigious Tony Award for Best Choreography in a Musical, and it was recently announced that he has joined Steven Spielberg's team to choreograph a new film version of West Side Story, the iconic American musical. Paying tribute to the founders and main creators of the New York City Ballet, George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, Peck often uses the techniques of honored masters in his works: here he has Tchaikovsky, and elegant neoclassical, and running around the stage in multi-colored T-shirts, and even sneakers . Nothing super-serious, but how beautiful.
One of the famous works of Justin Peck, performed by him in the New York subway
Along with Christopher Wheeldon and Alexei Ratmansky, Justin Peck is called one of the three main choreographers of the 21st century working in the genre of classical ballet. Paz de la Jolla Justin Peck creates in 2013 especially for the evening dedicated to George Balanchine. “There are no new steps, there are new combinations,” said Balanchine, and in this twenty-minute creation, Peck is clearly following in his footsteps.
Preview of the Paz de la Jolla production in New York
Paz de la Jolla trailer in Canada
Trailer documentary film Ballet 422, which will be shown as part of educational program"Context" in the online cinema Nonfiction.film
Guillaume Cote- Principal of the National Ballet of Canada since 2004, choreography since 2013. Unlike Peck, who has been in white tights since the age of three, and he has always been a joy to do classical ballet, especially considering that in his dance class of 16 boys everyone was incredibly friendly and kind (it seems that it is not in vain that they say that Canadians are the most nice people on the planet).
Short film about Guillaume Cote
During his career as a dancer, Cote seems to have danced all the classic roles of princes and romantic heroes and participated, along with Marcelo Gomez, Leonid Sarafanov, Ivan Vasiliev and other dancers, in the project "Kings of Dance", so loved by the general public. For one of the numbers, he even wrote music.
Kings of the Dance, music by Guillaume Côté, choreography by Marcelo Gomez
The work "Being and Nothingness" grew out of a solo number that Cote staged for the personal project of the prima ballerina of the theater Greta Hodgkinson. At that time, the choreographer was fond of existentialism, and Sartre's idea of some kind of ephemeral reflection of one's own personality, to which we try to correspond all our lives, seemed very curious to Kote. Karen Kane gave the go-ahead, and the ballerina's pas de deux with an electric bulb instead of a partner grew into a great work.
How the ballet "Being and Nothing" was created
"Batsheva": dance in the Gaga language
(Lady Gaga has nothing to do with it)
On November 5 and 6, the Israeli dance company "Batsheva" will present a new production by Ohad Naharin "Venezuela".
Trailer "Venezuela"
Any person who is at all interested in modern choreography at the name of Nakharin comes into a state of exaltation and rushes to buy tickets. Last year, "Batsheva" - and even then not the main troupe, but the so-called youth - came to the Dance Open, and there was a queue of people who wanted to buy their ticket from you, if not with money, then with a plea and a mean ballet tear. If we talk about the world's main theaters where Nakharin's performances are staged, it's easier to say where they are not. (Not at the Mariinsky Theatre, which is a pity.) Decadence in Paris, for example, always draws full houses.
"Decadence"
Naharin is an innovator and experimenter, the creator of the gaga dance language, which can be briefly described as "free your brain, and your body will be free too." The gaga class is a kind of guided improvisation on the theme visual images given by the teacher. The dancers rehearse without a mirror, which, according to the choreographer, prevents them from feeling their body, and their movements combine sensuality and explosive energy, amazing flexibility and power.
Little is always known about young choreographers, but this is wonderful - there is always a chance to boast later that they were the first to see a rising star. The program of the evening will also showcase their work by Olga Labovkina, last year's lab winner, and the wonderful Pavel Glukhov, who won an internship with Wayne McGregor. Must be interesting.