The program of the Section "Ballet and Dance" is divided into two subsections, one of which is headed by Boris Eifman, Director of Boris Eifman's Saint Petersburg State Academic Ballet Theater, and the other one — by Nikolay Tsiskaridze, Rector of the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet. This year the section will focus on issues of education, cultural upbringing of the younger generation and new technologies in arts.
Subsection of B. Y. Eifman
On the first day of the Forum the Roundtable Discussion "Culture and Children" will take place. The event will be moderated by Boris Eifman, Artistic Director of the Saint Petersburg State Academic Ballet Theater, the following speakers are invited: Alexi Valta, Director of the Association of Finnish Children's Cultural Centres (Finland); Larisa Savelyeva, Artistic Director and Founder of YOUTH AMERICA GRAND PRIX (Russia) and others. The discussion in the format of a roundtable discussion will be dedicated to the meaning and methods of acquainting children with values of high culture.
The opening of the Children's Dance Theatre will be a key event of the subsection. The project was designed by Boris Eifman as a centre of aesthetic and professional education not for students of the Dance Academy, but for thousands of young residents of Saint Petersburg as well. Festivals, competitions, theatre performances and concert programs will be presented here for both professional and amateur dance groups. On November 16 the Gala Concert to celebrate the opening of the Children's Dance Theatre will take place. The program of the evening includes performances by students of Boris Eifman's Dance Academy, the Berlin State Ballet School and the Beijing Dance Academy.
In the first part of the Gala Concert the audience will see Musaget, a one-act ballet created by Boris Eifman. The program of the second part will include Grand pas from Paquita and Tyrolean pas de deux by August Bournonville from Gioachino Rossini's William Tell. Students of the Beijing Dance Academy will present Rush, a performance staged by famous British choreographer Christopher Wildon.
Two performances will be brought to Saint Petersburg by students of the Berlin State Ballet School. The first one is All Along Dem Day by Marco Goecke based on Nina Simone's Sinnerman (premiere of 2015). The performance of our Western guests will be continued by the duo set to the music of Gotan Project from Tango Palace by Gregor Seyffert. The evening will be concluded with a Ball Scene set to the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart from the ballet Don Juan or the Passions According to Molière.
This event will take place in the framework of the program "China as the Guest Country of the International Cultural Forum 2019".
"This year the Children's Dance Theatre will be opened — a unique center of aesthetic and professional education of young residents of Saint Petersburg," Boris Eifman, People's Artist of Russia, Co-Head of the Section "Ballet and Dance" says. "I'm confident that this event will be one of the highlights not of the Ballet Section, but of the Forum in general as well. That's why we decided to invite reputable experts in field of artistic development of children to discuss the practice of introducing the samples of high culture to the younger generation as a fundamental component of the entire educational process. I hope, events of our section will help find truly efficient ways to enrich the spiritual world of a modern child".
Subsection of N. M. Tsiskaridze
Annually on one of the Forum days the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet opens its doors for participants and guests of the Cultural Forum. On November 14 the tour to the M. Kh. Frangopulo Cabinet of the Russian Ballet History and the Academy will be arranged in the framework of the Doors Open Day. Visitors will be able to see how future professional dancers train by attending a demo lesson given by Vaganov's student — I.A. Trofimova, one of leading teachers and methodologists of the Academy — to celebrate her 90th anniversary. They will also visit the concert presented by students of the Shiryaev School Theatre. Also, the photo exhibition "Imperial Capitals: Saint Petersburg — Vienna" will be introduced to guests. Teachers and students of the Academy have taken part in the same name project for three years.
The Doors Open Day will be attended by Nikolay Tsiskaridze, Rector of the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet; Zhanna Ayupova, First Vice Rector of the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, and Elena Adamenko, Head of the M. Kh. Frangopulo Cabinet of the Russian Ballet History.
"One more time we'll try to make the visit of people who come to the VIII Saint Petersburg International Cultural Forum interesting and educational," Nikolay Tsiskaridze, People's Artist of Russia, Co-Head of the Section "Ballet and Dance" shares. "On November 14 the Doors Open Day is arranged for participants of the Forum. We are preparing two landmark events that I hope to become a part of both the history of our school and the history of our ballet. This year our female lead is Vaganova's student Irina Aleksandrovna Trofimova, one of leading teachers and methodologists of the Academy. In the year of her 90th anniversary she continues working. In her honor we will hold the Demo Lesson in the Petipa rehearsal room. We are also preparing the Photo Exhibition and presentation of the presentation of memoires of Gabriela Trofimovna Komleva, People's Artist of the USSR, who has recently celebrated her 80th anniversary, in the House of Scientists. We will hold this creative meeting in one of the most beautiful imperial palaces of Saint Petersburg, where the legendary ballerina used to dance on the stage of the White Hall many times."
On November 14 "Meetings with Ballet", the event dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Gabriela Trofimovna Komleva, People's Artist of the USSR, Soviet ballet dancer and famous ballet-mistress, will take place in the Maxim Gorky House of Scientists of the RAS (Palace of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich). The exhibition of selected photos of various years dedicated to the ballerina will take place in different halls of the palace. Aside from the photo exhibition, the Imperial Porcelain Factory will introduce its famous collection "Ballet in Porcelain". In the framework of the event a new book by G. T. Komleva, "Dance – Happiness and Pain... Notes of a Petersburg Ballerina", will be presented by Arkadiy Sokolov-Kaminsky, ballet historian and theatre critics; Nikolay Tsiskaridze, People's Artist of Russia, and Gabriela Komleva, the main heroine of "Meetings with Ballet".
On the second day of the Forum, on November 15, the Solemn Awarding Ceremony of the III All-Russian Pedagogical Excellence Competition for Teaching Staff of Higher Education Establishments in field of Music, Choreography and Fine Arts will take place. The Awarding Ceremony will be attended by Semyon Mikhailovsky, Rector of the I. E. Repin Institute (Russia); Aleksey Vasilyev, Rector of the Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory (Russia), and Nikolay Tsiskaridze, Rector of the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet.
On November 15–16 the IV Congress "New Technologies in Arts" will be held in the framework of the Cultural Forum as it has been for several years now. A joint project of the Academy of Russian Ballet and the Saint Petersburg State University will be dedicated to challenges of introduction of new technologies in modern arts. Speakers of the Congress will not only participate in discussions of relevant issues regarding interaction of art, education and new technologies, but will also present a few workshops. Bartosz Cieniawa and Katarzyna Anna Malachowska, teachers from the Stanisław Wyspiański Academy of Theatre Arts in Krakow (Poland), will hold a workshop on modern choreography for ballet professionals and specialists. Kiki Selioni, director, actress and lead instructor of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (UK), will hold a workshop on methods of Rudolf von Laban, creator and academician of the "expressive dance" methodology.
