Choreographer, performer and author of the program "Academy of New Dance" Olga Tsvetkova, together with composer-percussionist Petr Glavatskikh presented the dance premiere "Requiem. Solo". According to the authors' idea, the dance turned into a ritual to contemporary music. The premiere of this performance took place in November 2022 on the New Stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater.
Anna Gordeeva, ballet critic (Moscow): There are two artists on stage - but only one of them is dancing. Composer-percussionist Petr Glavatskikh runs in the darkness that reigns at the back from one drum kit to another, single-handedly creating the effect of a rather large ensemble. The musical canvas of "Requiem" was made up of works by Iannis Xenakis - the famous "Rebonds" and "Psappha", combined with fragments written by Glavatskikh. He composed music for the semantron, an ancient instrument of Greek origin, used by Eastern Christians instead of a bell. The monks on Mount Athos used the semantron to announce the beginning of services. Glavatskikh memorizes all his scores (which is convenient when the play is in semi-darkness) - and therefore it seems that he is improvising, but this is not true. Every deadly avalanche in the mountains, every heartbeat bursting out of the chest, every call to prayer and every arrogant chuckle of the drums ("do you think this will help?") is strictly in its place. The play is planned and goes according to plan. Undoubtedly one of the five best choreographers in Russia, Olga Tsvetkova dedicated it to her mother who passed away early - and the result was an impressive opus about the stages of grief, about how a person almost destroyed by it gets up, how rage spills out into movement, how this movement makes the stage begin to dawn. Not tears, but building yourself anew - this is the inspiring pathos of "Requiem. Solo".
Choreography and dance OLGA TSVETKOVA
Music and composition PETR GLAVATSKIKH
Lighting designer SERGEY VASILIEV
Costume designer DARYA MALININA