Diana Vishneva’s CONTEXT Festival will celebrate contemporary choreography in Moscow from November 12 – 15 and in Saint Petersburg November 16 – 19.
The festival, a vibrant, innovative, energetic organization with a young team under the direction of Sofia Kapkova, renowned Russian producer and CEO of the Documentary Film Centre, features a wide range of choreographers, bringing international talents to share the stage with domestic artists. These talents include Wayne McGregor, Justin Peck and Alexei Ratmansky.
Diana Vishneva will appear on stage in both Moscow and St. Petersburg, performing the final pas de deux from Goyo Montero’s Sleeping Beauty together with Oscar Alonso, and with the Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre in Vladimir Varnava’s Petrushka.
In its fifth year CONTEXT has grown from a three-day festival to an entire week dedicated to dance and movement, becoming a significant platform for gifted up-and-coming choreographers and dancers.
At CONTEXT’s Moscow gala, Wayne McGregor, one of the UK’s most renowned contemporary choreographers, named by Time magazine as the “artist that defined the decade,” will present two works. His company will perform FAR – a complex work full of contrasts set to music by experimental composer Ben Frost. McGregor’s Witness will be performed by legendary ballerina, Alessandra Ferri, with American Ballet Theatre’s principal dancer, Herman Cornejo.
Jeanette Delgado will perform Chutes and Ladders by New York City Ballet’s Justin Peck, one of the youngest leading contemporary choreographers.
Said founder Vishneva: “Classical ballet in Russia has a long-lasting tradition but the history of contemporary dance is being written today. The purpose of our festival is to show the best that exists in contemporary choreography and to help young talented stage creators take their well-deserved place. We aim to fit Russia into the context of world contemporary choreography.”
CONTEXT is platform to develop emerging Russian choreographers. The choices are always eclectic, representing diversity in dance. Diana Vishneva’s programming is driven by an insatiable curiosity to discover and experience dance from many different perspectives.