A Meeting with Choreography. What will surprise the audience at the IFMC-2024 festival in Vitebsk?
It was said: The first dance festivals were diverse and varied. The stage featured ballroom, folk, pop dance, hip-hop, and something else. This "something else," which later became known as modern choreography, defined the direction and development of IFMC.
Rodin and Chastushki
The initiator and permanent organizer of the festival, Deputy General Director for Special Projects at the "Vitebsk" Cultural Center, Marina Romanovskaya, emphasized that for her, IFMC is a part of the city's history, a part of her soul, memories, and anticipation of new meetings. It is no coincidence that the graphic symbol of the choreographic forum is a meander, symbolizing the endless flow of life and the change of generations. This will be evident at the юбилейный festival – the festival program includes works that have become classics, as well as new ones reflecting choreographers' visions of the modern world.
– It is a great joy for us that the Leonid Yakobson St. Petersburg State Academic Ballet Theatre will perform at the opening of IFMC, presenting two productions. Their signature piece is the one-act ballet "Rodin," in which the works of the French impressionist sculptor seem to come to life. It is a piercingly free, poetically inspired hymn to love, conveyed by the dancers with remarkable subtlety. The second ballet, "Mischievous Chastushki," choreographed by Vyacheslav Samodurov, is full of irony, humor, and brilliantly danced by the artists. Those who attend these performances will receive great aesthetic pleasure, – emphasized Marina Romanovskaya.The guest program features the performance "Lullaby for Mayakovsky" by the Moscow company "Yateatr". The production is based on a plot dictated by the poet's life and conveys the great master of words' torments, doubts, and feelings through the language of plasticity. "Ballet. Theatre" from St. Petersburg will present the ballet Petrushka with fairground scenes.
A long-time friend of IFMC, the Perm Theatre "Ballet of Evgeny Panfilov," will show the production "River," which is part of the company's golden fund, and the performance "The Laughingstock" based on Krylov's fables. At the closing of the festival, the troupe from Perm will present a joint work with the Belarusian State Youth Theatre – the ballet "Beauty."
– Thanks to our friendship with the outstanding choreographer, People's Artist Vladimir Vasiliev, who has been a guest of IFMC more than once, the choreographic novella "Graces. Heritage" has appeared in the program. This production is based on Vasily Shukshin's story, performed by the State Youth Ensemble of Song and Dance "Altai," with whom Vladimir Vasiliev collaborates. It is interesting to see how a folk ensemble works in the aesthetics of contemporary choreography and translates a literary work into the language of dance, – noted Marina Romanovskaya.
"It's Just Things"
The performance with this title will be presented by "ETO Russian Company of Contemporary Dance by Alexander Mogilev." Alexander will also be working on the international jury this year and shared his thoughts via video link. By the way, he is a student of the famous choreographer Nikolai Ogryzkov, who was one of IFMC's favorites.
– I was lucky to work with Nikolay Ogryzkov. He influenced my understanding of dance. His choreography had a folk soul, sincerity, simplicity, honesty, and fervor, – noted Alexander Mogilev. – Being a jury member is difficult because I am always on the choreographer's side. By and large, art and creativity are not subject to evaluation; it is always subjective. For me, the fundamental thing will be the emotions that a particular work evokes, goosebumps on the skin. First, you evaluate the technique, then the composition, relevance, and ideas, and then emotions overshadow everything.
The choreographer also spoke about his production. The stage is cluttered with things that people often fill their homes with. But any thing carries memories and emotions that are difficult to part with. Discussing this topic choreographically, the director does not provide an answer. Only a question: is it good or bad to get rid of memories. Are they in things or in a person's soul?
A Competition with a Female Face
As Marina Romanovskaya noted, the peculiarity of this year's competition is the prevalence of female choreography. Themes that concern women as mothers, continuers of the lineage, keepers of the hearth, and beloved women come to the forefront. This year, only adult collectives will perform. One needs to mature to modern choreography, to train the body to convey deep thoughts. The geography of the competition participants is quite extensive. The farthest point from which a collective will come to Vitebsk is 6.5 thousand km away in the Chinese city of Shangqiu. The training ensemble "Academy" of the Tyumen State Institute of Culture is also preparing for a long journey. Its head, Yana Bykova, has contacted Vitebsk.
– I heard about the festival from my colleagues who came from Vitebsk and were full of admiration, saying they had never seen anything like it. You must visit IFMC to see what contemporary dance is. When we submitted our application, we didn't think we would be accepted. Now we are inspired and want to hear the opinion of competent people about our work, – said Yana.
The choreograph and assistant to the principal ballet master of the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus, Anastasia Golesheva, will present her competition work.
– The choreographic composition is titled "Matisse's Dance". The French artist Henri Matisse painted his famous work "The Dance" in 1910, inspired by Isadora Duncan's performance of the furandola, a folk dance from Provence. I was drawn to the fact that Matisse, as he put it, painted not dancers, but the dance itself. The production, which I have defined as a positive-comedy composition, features classical ballet dancers, – explained Anastasia.
Another Tsvetaeva
As part of the exhibition program, festival guests will be introduced to an art project dedicated to the life and work of Valeria Tsvetaeva, a dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Marina Tsvetaeva's stepsister became fascinated with Isadora Duncan's concept of dance and opened the "Art of Movement" courses. A performance based on recreated recordings by Valeria Tsvetaeva will be held as part of the exhibition.
An exhibition of painting and sculpture "Forms and Colors" by Mogilev artists Oksana Evdokimenko and Andrey Vorobyov will also be presented.
"VV" Reference
The current forum will bring together choreographers, dancers, and theorists of modern dance from various regions of Belarus, Russia, as well as China, Kazakhstan, Slovenia, Egypt, Italy, Sweden, and other countries. Traditionally, audiences can expect ballet performances and dance theatre shows, practical master classes and lectures on contemporary art, original exhibitions and presentations, press conferences, and open discussions.