History
The sixth Context. Diana Vishneva Festival for Contemporary Choreography took place in Moscow and St. Petersburg from October 15 to November 6, 2018.
For the first time in the history of the festival, the National Ballet of Сanada toured Russia, with the support of the Canadian Embassy. In Moscow and St. Petersburg, three one-act ballets were performed. The National Ballet of Сanada presented Emergence staged by choreographer Crystal Pite, Justin Peck’s Paz de la Jolla, as well as Guillaume Côté’s Being and Nothingness, inspired by Sartre’s philosophical essay. The final events of the festival were two Russian premieres of Ohad Naharin’s new production Venezuela performed by Batsheva.
Six Young Choreographers’ Competition finalists presented works specially created for the Evening for Young Choreographers at the festival. Olga Timoshenko won with her Along Another. The work of Irina Kononova Black Friday received the Audience Award.
The festival also hosted a lesson, open to all, on Gaga dancing called Gaga/people, as well as a five-day-long intensive program called Gaga/dancers, intended for professional dancers and choreographers. Additionally, the program featured a two-day master-class from the European School of Arts Codarts, a master-class on light direction from leading British specialist Michael Mannion, a workshop on theatre criticism with contemporary dance researcher Vita Khlopova and a workshop on dance photography with theatre artist Mark Olich. ContextSpeaks also hosted a public discussion with Karen Kain, the director of the National Ballet of Canada.
In 2018, the film program included both premieres and hits from previous years: Ballet 422, Pina, Rare Birds, Paris Opera, and Gravitation from Diana Vishneva’s festival.
