Undeground / 2025 / Moscow
Dance piece in the parking lot of the House of culture “GES-2”
The dance piece in the underground parking lot of GES-2, which combines folk music with contemporary choreography. Choreographer and theatre director Olga Tsvetkova addresses the theme of deep inner transformations in her work. The parking lot is literally a place of transition, a transit space. The eight dancers are in a mode between expectation and activity, equally unresolvable: it is as if the performers are trying to move the low concrete ceiling above their heads - literally and figuratively.
“The central image in this piece is the space beneath the earth - a refuge and at the same time an illusory place for Platonic shadows to run rampant. A space where vague shadows and long tree roots intertwined with each other. This immersion into the world of the sensual provides an opportunity to pull to the surface of consciousness something very precious and long forgotten.
Addressing traditional male dances rituals such as breaking (ломанье), I take from there the trance-like falling out of everyday space and combine it with virtuoso technical elements of dance. This heightens the intensity of emotion by pitting seemingly diverse experiences - joy, anger, sadness and inner silence - against each other. I am interested in the state of transition, of hanging in “nowhere”. I want to create in the viewer the sense of limit, as if time has reached its end.”
— Olga Tsvetkova, choreographer
“When we talk about Russian folklore, more often we are encountering a female image. But in reality, all Russian traditional music is permeated with manifestations of male character. For the performance we have collected unique samples of such works: a wedding song about a boy's gathering for the wedding, a lullaby sung by a man, songs about seeing a man off to the army and about longing for a beloved girl. And of course, first of all, the tradition of playing musical instruments is connected with men in Russian music.”
— Lizaveta Anshina, musical director of the ensemble “Toloka”
Choreography and directing - Olga Tsvetkova
Performers - Timur Ganeyev, Evgeny Kalachev, Artur Kardanov, Alexander Kozin, Bogdan Kochurov, Kamil Mustafayev, Andrey Petrushenkov, Andrey Sychev
Ensemble “Toloka”
A collective of young folklore performers and researchers of authentic Russian music. The members of the ensemble study intangible heritage, deciphering rare and unknown songs, which they themselves collect on expeditions to Russian villages. The artists also work in experimental genres.
Artistic director - Ekaterina Rostovtseva
Music director - Lizaveta Anshina
Performers - Vera Bazilevskikh, Zhanna Gefling, Sofia Ivanishkina, Prokhor Nesterov, Yaroslav Paradovsky, Antonina Sergeeva
Musical playwright - Vladimir Gorlinsky
Lighting artist - Oleg Strashkin
Curator - Anastasia Proshutinskaya, curator of dance programmes at GES-2
Producers - Kira Berman, Ksenia Makshantseva, Yana Romashkina, Mikhail Yatskov
Technical team - Alexander Dolmatov, Olga Dudina, Artem Kanifatov
Sound engineers - Sergei Kochetkov, Yulia Kozlova
Director’s assistant - Anna Sinelnikova
Costume assistant - Elena Zharikova
Production House of culture “GES-2”, 2025
Preview:
Underground 2025
GES-2 parking lot
Press:
Men dances in the parking lot
Waiting room - Ballet Magazine
Who is under us
Dance piece in the parking lot of the House of culture “GES-2”
The dance piece in the underground parking lot of GES-2, which combines folk music with contemporary choreography. Choreographer and theatre director Olga Tsvetkova addresses the theme of deep inner transformations in her work. The parking lot is literally a place of transition, a transit space. The eight dancers are in a mode between expectation and activity, equally unresolvable: it is as if the performers are trying to move the low concrete ceiling above their heads - literally and figuratively.
“The central image in this piece is the space beneath the earth - a refuge and at the same time an illusory place for Platonic shadows to run rampant. A space where vague shadows and long tree roots intertwined with each other. This immersion into the world of the sensual provides an opportunity to pull to the surface of consciousness something very precious and long forgotten.
Addressing traditional male dances rituals such as breaking (ломанье), I take from there the trance-like falling out of everyday space and combine it with virtuoso technical elements of dance. This heightens the intensity of emotion by pitting seemingly diverse experiences - joy, anger, sadness and inner silence - against each other. I am interested in the state of transition, of hanging in “nowhere”. I want to create in the viewer the sense of limit, as if time has reached its end.”
— Olga Tsvetkova, choreographer
“When we talk about Russian folklore, more often we are encountering a female image. But in reality, all Russian traditional music is permeated with manifestations of male character. For the performance we have collected unique samples of such works: a wedding song about a boy's gathering for the wedding, a lullaby sung by a man, songs about seeing a man off to the army and about longing for a beloved girl. And of course, first of all, the tradition of playing musical instruments is connected with men in Russian music.”
— Lizaveta Anshina, musical director of the ensemble “Toloka”
Choreography and directing - Olga Tsvetkova
Performers - Timur Ganeyev, Evgeny Kalachev, Artur Kardanov, Alexander Kozin, Bogdan Kochurov, Kamil Mustafayev, Andrey Petrushenkov, Andrey Sychev
Ensemble “Toloka”
A collective of young folklore performers and researchers of authentic Russian music. The members of the ensemble study intangible heritage, deciphering rare and unknown songs, which they themselves collect on expeditions to Russian villages. The artists also work in experimental genres.
Artistic director - Ekaterina Rostovtseva
Music director - Lizaveta Anshina
Performers - Vera Bazilevskikh, Zhanna Gefling, Sofia Ivanishkina, Prokhor Nesterov, Yaroslav Paradovsky, Antonina Sergeeva
Musical playwright - Vladimir Gorlinsky
Lighting artist - Oleg Strashkin
Curator - Anastasia Proshutinskaya, curator of dance programmes at GES-2
Producers - Kira Berman, Ksenia Makshantseva, Yana Romashkina, Mikhail Yatskov
Technical team - Alexander Dolmatov, Olga Dudina, Artem Kanifatov
Sound engineers - Sergei Kochetkov, Yulia Kozlova
Director’s assistant - Anna Sinelnikova
Costume assistant - Elena Zharikova
Production House of culture “GES-2”, 2025
Preview:
Underground 2025
GES-2 parking lot
Press:
Men dances in the parking lot
Waiting room - Ballet Magazine
Who is under us
