Under the umbrella title of SATORI, the programme has been announced for Project Polunin at the London Coliseum from 5 to 10 December 2017.
SATORI is a Japanese Buddhist term for a ‘sudden awakening’ or ‘enlightenment’ that one discovers through personal experience. For Sergei Polunin, SATORI represents his personal journey to reconnect with his love for dance and passion for the arts.
Project Polunin aims to convey the joy of dance through theatre, live broadcast, film, social media platforms and virtual reality and, by collaborating with dancers, filmmakers, musicians, writers and artists, to create new works that will reflect our times as well as preserving and celebrating the history of classical dance. Project Polunin will strive to demonstrate the unifying power of dance.
First Solo
First Solo is a new 7-minute ballet created by Andrey Kaydanovskiy which will star Sergei Polunin himself. Kaydanovskiy is currently a demi soloist at the Ballett der Wiener Staatsoper und Volksoper, where he has also worked as a choreographer, creating drei undebekannte (2009) and Love Song (2013). In 2016, he created Tea or Coffee for the Stanislavsky Theatre in Moscow and received the prestigious German Dance Prize (Deutscher Tanzpreis) as a choreographer.
Scriabiniana
This will be the London premiere of the most complete version of Kasyan Goleizovsky’s ballet suite, Scriabiniana. Renowned innovator and choreographer, Goleizovsky (1892-1970) was hailed as Balanchine’s main inspiration. He danced at the Bolshoi Theatre before founding Moscow Chamber Ballet (1916), where he created many innovative works. He also created a number of ballets for the Bolshoi Theatre, the most significant of which was Joseph the Beautiful (1925). Goleizovsky was then forced to leave the Bolshoi Theatre and worked in various theatres throughout the USSR, whilst, in Moscow and Leningrad, he focused his attention on concert programmes and music halls. Goleizovksy didn’t return to the Bolshoi Theatre until the 1960s, where he created two ballets – Scriabiniana(1962) and Leili and Mejnun (1964).
This production will be directed by Roman Mikhejenkov with composition by Alexander Scriabin, costume design by Sofia Filatova and restoration choreography by Ksenia Oyvental.
Satori
The world premiere of Satori is choreographed by Sergei Polunin, with direction by Gabriel Marcel del Vecchio and an original score by German-born Lorenz Dangel. At 19, Polunin was the youngest ever dancer to become a Principal with The Royal Ballet. After four years in the company, he went on to perform in Russia with the Stanislavsky Theatre and Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre. Earlier this year, Sergei’s story was made the subject of documentary feature film called Dancer produced by Gabrielle Tana. Later this year, Sergei will be seen in the new Kenneth Branagh film adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express, due for release in November. This premiere production will have set design by David LaChapelle, costume design by Angelina Atlagic, choreography by Sergei Polunin and composition by Lorenz Dangel
Book your tickets here for Project Polunin