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| | Arts Calendar / December 10 / Dance |
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19:00 | Berezka Choreographic Ensemble |
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The Berezka Ensemble was set up in 1948, by choreographer Nadezhda Nadezhdina. Since then, it has become a symbol of sorts, something that Russia has been identified with. Having traveled to over 80 countries for performances, the troupe has recently made the news for something other than their famous floating step. The dancers have covered over 47,000 dancing kilometers, through their signature step. That's longer than the diameter of the Earth! Every concert put up by the Berezka starts with a circle dance, called the Khorovod, in which they perform the sliding step. What's so special about this step is that they hardly appear to move at all, they in fact seem to be standing still while the stage beneath them seems to be moving. Even the skirts worn by the dancers doesn't seem to ruffle. The step was created by Nadezhdina herself and while it's nothing short of impressive, the exquisite beauty of the dancers helps keep audiences around the world mesmerized. There are several rumors that the dancers who join the Berezka Ensemble are sworn to secrecy, and aren't even permitted to reveal the step to family. Their incumbent leader, Mira Koltsova, states otherwise. "No one is required to pledge secrecy, of course, it'd be silly," she says. "What makes people sit mesmerized is the expression of the soul. There is the material, and there is the spiritual. And if you put them on the scales, the spiritual outweighs the material."
Tchaikovsky Concert Hall  |
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20:00 | Contemporary Dance Festival Tsekh: Forget to Love |
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 The Contemporary Dance Festival Tsekh will take place on December 6-14, 2014. As always Tsekh will acquaint the audience with names and greatest achievements of European contemporary dance. The programme of this year's event will include a selection of the most interesting contemporary performances from Switzerland and Russia. Incidentally Tsekh-2014 was organized by the International Centre of Dance and Performance Tsekh and Meyerhold Center as the part of the cultural exchange program between Russia and Switzerland which was initiated by the Swiss Arts Council "Pro Helvetia". Tatiana Baganova's Provincial Dances Theater (Yekaterinburg), the laureate of Golden Mask Award, will show its popular performance "Forget to Love" by the Israeli-Dutch choreographers-duo Johan Greben and Uei Ivgi which was already shown in Russian cities and Italy. This act is the second co-operative project of these choreographers and Provincial Dances Theater. Before Ivgi&Greben teamed up in 2003 they both worked successfully as independant choreographer. In 1998 Uri Ivgi received the first prize for best dancer during the International Competition for Choreographers in the Suzanne Dellal Centre, as well as the award for Upcoming Talented Choreographer from the Ministry of Culture in Israel. With duet Longing he won the Public Award during the International Competition for Choreographers in Groningen, The Netherlands in 2002. The same duet won second prize and Public Award during the Choreographers Competition in Hannover, Germany. In 1989 Johan Greben won the Encouragement Prize for Choreography from the Amsterdam Foundation for the Arts as well as the Wim Barry Stipendia Award for his first piece Later. In 1996 he won the third prize with duet 610 during the Choreographers Competition in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Since the first collaboration of Ivgi&Greben in 2003 they created for Ballet am Rhein, Germany; Dansgroep Amsterdam, Introdans and Scapino Ballet, The Netherlands; It dansa, Spain; Korea National Contemporary Dance Company, South-Korea; Modern Dance Turkey; National Theatre Ballet and Prague Chamber Ballet, Czech; Phoenix Dance Theatre and Scottish Dance Theatre, Great Britain; Provincial Dances Theatre, Russia; Skanes Dansteater and Norrdans, Sweden and Tanzkompanie Theater St. Gallen, Switzerland. In 2011 Ivgi&Greben won The Golden Mask Award in Moscow in the category Best Choreographer - Ballet/Contemporary Dance. They received this most prestigious Theatre Prize for "This is not a Love Song", which they created for the Provincial Dances Theatre. Ivgi&Greben present their ideas and thoughts through an imaginative body vocabulary combined with poetic images which build and break, and touch and confront. They consider their work to be a mirror for their audience as well as themselves and so invite the audience to search for a personal reflection of reality. Using themes such as oppression, tension between individuals and groups, longing for freedom and love, and sexuality and acceptance Ivgi&Greben create a visual world blending movement, music, light, set and costumes into an esthetic of their own. By breaking boundaries and using intense physicality, their choreography achieves a tapestry representing control, power, strength and endurance interwoven with movements of softness, intimacy and tenderness. More info
Meyerhold Center |
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