Dance performance „Beauty of the Beast“ / Anton Ovchinnikov (Ukraine)
Performance by: Anton Ovchinnikov
Duration: 45 min.
Location: @Culture Factory (Bangų str. 5A)
Russian classical ballet is today one of the main products of Russian cultural export and one of the symbols of Russian art and culture outside of Russia. The performance "Beauty of the Beast" suggests looking at classical Russian ballet as an aestheticized form of violence against a person and over the body through the lenses of the beauty of the “Swan Lake” ballet by the music of P.Tchaikovsky.
Today, when the Russian army destroys cities and the population of Ukraine, inhumanity and destruction become new symbols of Russia. How can this metamorphosis change the view of traditional classical ballet? Can it still be a cover for the lawlessness, anti-humanism and imperial habits of the Russian elite? How the war could change the perception of ballet as an art form that is deeply rooted in European culture but which has become a mainstay and glossy cover of Russian art for export?
The performance offers a new anti-utopian vision of what a traditional classical ballet technique class might look like in a country where the entire cultural industry works to support the military-industrial complex and is subject to state ideology and propaganda.
The performance is based on the poem "New Russian Ballet" by Anton Ovchinnikov, which was written at the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, namely on March 31, 2022
Anton Ovchinnikov is a multidisciplinary artist and culture manager. He works as a choreographer, performer, composer, lecturer, and organizer of the annual international dance festival Zelyonka Space UP in Kyiv. Since 2008 he has been the artistic director of the Black O!Range dance productions company, which was recognized as one of Ukraine's most distinctive and original dance projects.
In 2016-2021 he presented a few solo performances and created five multidisciplinary projects. In 2017 he was a fellow of CEC Artslink Residency in the USA. In 2018/2019, A. Ovchinnikov was a member of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation expert panel.
In 2015 A. Ovchinnikov co-founded and became president of the All-Ukrainian Association “Contemporary Dance Platform”. The main objectives of the association are to support young Ukrainian choreographers, integrate contemporary dance into the cultural life of Ukraine and establish the national center of contemporary dance. Since 2022, the association has been managing two international projects: 1) “Let the body speak” – the ongoing collection of dance videos created by Ukrainian choreographers during the war and an educational program developed together with the British dance center and 2) “The Living Archive Ukraine” – the online professional development and creation program centered on Wayne McGregor’s AI. Soma – a world’s first machine learning choreographic tool explicitly developed for McGregor with Google Arts and Culture Lab.
Photo: from performers archive