Probably many contemporaries share the opinion that we are full of information. While the lion's share of events remains behind the scenes of our attention. There is so much information that two dozen days after the end of the festival, when starting to create a report, you unwittingly look at the documents to check yourself. Yes, exactly, the XXXII International Festival of Modern Choreography in Vitebsk was held from November 18 to 23, 2019. It is not surprising because during this time television recordings of magnificent festivals and concerts of music, dance, opera were broadcast worldwide, during unhurried intelligent conversations were heard the thoughts and revelations of artists, writers, directors whose work affects society and forms the attitude of new generations. Add movies, informative art history programs, and books... Once again I have to admit - one cannot embrace the unembraceable, although I really want to. With one note, IFMC also exists in this mighty stream of noteworthy “content”.

In the world there are a lot of great ideas and promising startups but not all of them are implemented. Vitebsk festival was fortunate. Thanks in large part to Valentin Elizariev, when in 1992 the living ballet classic first headed the international jury of the contest of modern choreography. Since then the composition of the founders of the festival has remained practically unchanged – Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Belarus, Vitebsk Regional and City Executive Committees, National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater of the Republic of Belarus. At any time any of the organizers could leave this list, finding objective reasons and circumstances. But if this didn't happen, then IFMC deserves attention.

I'd like to believe that in the country is about to appear law that business will receive not only public respect for supporting culture and art, but also certain financial preferences. And the first on this list should be Belwest, which has been the general partner of the festival for 25 years. Taking into account the lost profit, it is probably a bit of a sad anniversary for the company, and for IFMC it’s just a quarter-century fairy tale. Thanks! The organizer of the festival, Centre of Culture “Vitebsk”, expresses gratitude to its partners - “Vitebsk Lifts” private enterprise and “Priorbank” Joint Stock Company.

November 18, Concert Hall “Vitebsk”, 19.00

“Anna Karenina”. Oddly enough, one of the most iconic dramatic works of the 19th century has, how shall we say, "not admirers." So they say, it’s a classic love triangle, as old as time everyday situation on the background of the period of social chaos or, as Tolstoy himself described, the decline of ancient civilization. Neither the form nor the events of the novel introduced anything new. What about the experience? Well, then, every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
In my opinion, "it’s fine". It's easier to live like this. Otherwise, you read and experience almost personal drama of the hopeless ending of the tragedy. It is impossible to get rid of the desire to be near the heroine and – no, not to dissuade, but somehow to support. Although, it is unlikely that a woman with such an outstanding moral and emotional world would need it. And here is Anna Karenina in Vitebsk, with the Vakhtangov State Academic Theater of Moscow. For the first time in the modern history of Belarus the legendary theater arrived in Vitebsk with a performance without words. Interesting, do you agree? So how’s that, the masters of the word in complete silence will give us their interpretation, comprehension of the work? If you are interested in how it was, you can go to the section “Press 2019. Anna Karenina”.
Choreographer – Anželika Cholina, awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit for contribution to Lithuanian culture. Scenography – Marijus Jacovskis. Costume and makeup artist – Juozas Statkevicius. Lighting designer – Tadas Valeika. Music – Alfred Schnittke. Cast – Olga Lerman, Evgeny Knyazev and Dmitry Solomykin.

November 20, Concert Hall “Vitebsk”, 19.00

The Academic Theater “Kyiv Modern-Ballet” performed with the world premiere of ballet in two acts “Viy” based on the eponymous novel by Nikolai Gogol. Traditionally bright, large-scale, and again original action could not but elicit a response from the audience and correspondents of mass media.
One of the merits of Radu Poklitaru is openness. Not that when after the hero’s tirade people look away confusedly, but an incredible degree of sincerity and trust of the choreographer to artists, spectators and colleagues around him. Communicating with him even in the framework of the traditional “After the Curtain” meetings at the end of the ballets is also a small performance - not a planned PR, but a meeting with a talented artist, experienced and knowledgeable director, with an amazing sense of humor. As for the premiere to the music of Alexander Rodin, in my opinion, the choreographer achieved the intended result. Perhaps, thanks to new technologies, sometimes completely unexpected associations were born in the imagination. For example, the final scene of the ballet was akin to The Last Supper itself.

November 21, Vitebsk Regional Philharmonic, 19.00

“Sweat Baby Sweat”. Choreography - Jan Martens, music - Jaap van Keulen, performers - Kimmy Ligtvoet and Steven Michel.
A joint Belgian-Dutch project was initially doomed to be a focus of increased attention. The performance about love is to a certain extent frank and deliberately shocking. The viewer is in an ambiguous situation, as if peeping through a keyhole at relationships that concern only two. Plus, after some time, comes the understanding that the heroes have some trouble, throughout the entire performance there is a constant, intense plastic dialogue and an assessment of the relationship: “To be or not to be together?”.
There is no spectacular dance of showdown with breaking hearts and dishes, stage settings indicating social belonging, there is literally a minimum of stage costumes. But amazing choreographic viscosity and sterile refrain of the performers' movements draw attention and make you wonder where the action will lead to. While watching, you need to pay attention to the background of the production. This is an important component. The fact is that phrases taken out of the context that appear on the screen are lines from songs by popular artists of different times - Tom Jones, Lady Gaga, Backstreet Boys and others. In my opinion, combining these three information flows – a multimedia text, a plastic solution and a musical component, you come to understanding, perhaps partially, of the idea.
Impressions from what they saw are unpredictable. Some viewers left the hall, someone saw a sharp social gender conflict, others empathized with the development of human relations. As an example of bipolar opinions, welcome to “Press 2019. Sweat Baby Sweat”.

November 22, Concert Hall “Vitebsk”

18.00
Part I - final of the Republican Contest of Modern Choreography.
Part II - premiere of the one act ballet “Labyrinth” to the music of modern composers, choreography – Alexey Rastorguev. Theatre “Ballet of Evgeny Panfilov”.

20.00
Part I - final of the Republican Contest of Modern Choreography (continuation).
Part II
- choreographic miniature “In touch” to the music of classical composers and contemporary authors, choreography and performance - Denis Boroditsky and Vladimir Golubev;
- premiere of the one act ballet “Man of Air” to the music of Maurice Ravel, choreography - Dmitry Antipov. Theatre “Ballet of Evgeny Panfilov”.

As can be seen from the festival programme, this was the only evening of public performances of the contest participants. The full list of the contestants according to the results of the qualifying video round is as follows:

1. Olga Rabetskaya dance project, Minsk
2. MYDC project, Minsk
3. “Menada” dance theatre, Minsk
4. “Renovation” project, Vitebsk
5. Svetlana Lenichko project, Gomel
6. “We Are Art” project, Minsk
7. Yulia Sulyak project, Minsk State College of Arts
8. “Reroll” contemporary dance group, Minsk
9. “MaKroMir” contemporary dance collective, Vitebsk
10. Dance Theatre [REFLECTIONS], Minsk
11. Dmitry Bezzubenko project, Choreography Department of the Belarusian State University of Art and Culture, Minsk
12. Valentin Isakov project “Х-perIments”, Gomel State College of Arts named after N.F. Sokolovsky
13. Evgeniya Romanovich project, Grodno
14. Kirill Shestakov project, Gomel
15. Contemporary Dance Workshop under the direction of Mikhail Kaminsky, the Belarusian State University of Art and Culture, Minsk
16. Dance Theatre “Altana”, Minsk
17. Choreographic Ensemble “Alesya”, Mogilev
18. “RED Dance Company”, Minsk
19. Collaborative project of Victoria Razuvanova and Maxim Nizovets, Minsk-Gomel
20. Theatre-studio of modern choreography of Diana Yurchenko, Vitebsk
21. “Styokla” (“Glasses”) project, Gomel
22. Ekaterina Yasyuk project, Minsk
23. “TAD-new” contemporary dance group, Grodno State College of Arts
24. The Belarusian State Choreography Gymnasium-College

You can find out about the impressions of the Jury of the level of the contest as a whole by clicking on this link “Jury about the Contest IFMC’2019”.

International Jury of the Contest

Radu Poklitaru – choreographer, laureate of international competitions, Honored Art Worker of Ukraine, laureate of Taras Shevchenko National Prize, “Person of the Year 2017” award, People's Artist of Moldova, main choreographer of the Academic Theatre “Kyiv Modern-Ballet”, Chairperson of the Jury, Ukraine.
Konstantin Kuznetsov – People’s Artist of Belarus, soloist of the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theatre of the Republic of Belarus, soloist of the Belarusian State Musical Theatre, laureate of international competitions, Belarus.
Anželika Cholina – choreographer, director-ballet mistress, Associate Professor at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, founder of the dance theatre А|CH, choreographer of the State Academic Theatre named after Eugene Vakhtangov, choreographer of the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of Russia, Lithuania-Russia.
Nicole Saïd - general manager of “Ballet Preljocaj”, France.
Emanuele Rosa – choreographer, dancer, teacher, laureate of international competitions, Italy.

If you click on this link “Criticism of IFMC’2019”, you will get an opinion of the members of the Expert Council and critics of the festival on the Contest and guest program of the festival.

Expert Council of IFMC’2019

Svetlana Ulanovskaya – Master of Arts, dance critic, contemporary dance researcher, lecturer, teacher at the European College of Liberal Arts in Belarus, curator of projects in the sphere of contemporary dance, author of articles and publications on Belarusian and world choreographic art, Chairperson of the Expert Council, Belarus.
Elena Slobodchikova – artistic director of the Krasnoyarsk Centre of Contemporary Dance, contemporary dance teacher at the Krasnoyarsk Choreographic College, organizer of festivals, contemporary dance workshops, Russia.
Anna Królica – art critic, dance historian, curator of art projects, author of books, articles on dance and art, member of the Artistic Committee of the Polish Dance Platform, programme coordinator of the first dance congress in Warsaw, Poland.

Let’s go back to the guest programme of the evening on November 22. The original choreographic miniature “In touch” was shown by the teachers of practical master classes of the festival Denis Boroditsky and Vladimir Golubev. As is known, history would not permit subjunctive mood but we have the right to fantasize in creativity as much as we want. “In touch” is a story of friendship – absentee, sometimes imaginary conversations, correspondence with a soul mate, a person with similar perceptions of life. You may not see him for a long time but that doesn’t break or make thinner the the invisible thread which connects you.

November 23, Concert Hall “Vitebsk”, 19.00

Initially the awarding ceremony of laureates and special prize holders of the Belarusian Contest of Modern Choreography IFMC’2019 took place.

Special Award “Postscript” - contest performance “Listen to the inner pianist” to the music of Claude Debussy, choreography - Evgeniya Romanovich. Evgeniya Romanovich project, Grodno.

Special Award “For the semantic content of the dance” - contest performance “Manual sun” to the music of Kai Engel, choreography – Elena Lisnaya. Contemporary Dance Workshop under the direction of Mikhail Kaminsky, the Belarusian State University of Art and Culture, Minsk.

The Evgeny Panfilov's Special prize to “The best choreographer” – Egor Yarosh. Contest performance “24” to the music of Ezio Bosso. “Reroll” contemporary dance group, Minsk.

Third Prize - contest performance “4 scenes” to the music of Ran Bagno, choreography – Olga Rabetskaya. Olga Rabetskaya dance project, Minsk.

Third Prize - contest performance “Cycle”. Music - poem “Izvolte”, Evgeny Nupreichik. Choreography - Alexandra Demyanova. “We Are Art” project, Minsk.

Second Prize - contest performance “Either…or…” to the music of W.A. Mozart, choreography - Dmitry Bezzubenko and Mariya Peresunko. Dmitry Bezzubenko project, Choreography Department of the Belarusian State University of Art and Culture, Minsk.

First Prize - contest performance “Girls” to the music of Ibeyi, choreography - Diana Yurchenko. Theatre-studio of modern choreography of Diana Yurchenko, Vitebsk.

The performance “Oskara” performed by the dance company “Kukai Dantza”, Spain completed the public programme of the festival. It’s a famous performance, shown at the most famous concert venues in Europe.
Why is it so attractive? In almost all aspects of contemporary dance and art in general. It is extremely relevant – not just a flash in the pan. The performance is so impetuous and dynamic that it is worthy of multiple viewing, even from the point of view to put its fragments and messages in the mind. Direction, choreography, set design and costumes are absolutely justified and organic. And finally, it is not an esoteric language for the initiates, the performance is surprisingly penetrating for any level of perception.
Oskara is the Basque language in ancient times, which has nothing to do with any of the European languages. The subject of the choreographic novel is the unique culture of a small nation, a reflection on the historical path and heritage, meditation on its future. In a series of historical images there is romance of chivalry of the Middle Ages, famous bullfighting, colors of public holidays, civil war crisis through the prism of the challenges of the modern world.
The main idea of the performance is a statement of the fact that today national languages and cultures of small ethnic groups are fading, their traditions and customs become a thing of the past. But in the opinion of the author of the performance, the truth is that it is not the contemporary who says goodbye to the archaic of centuries, but exactly the opposite – ignorance of our own history and our roots leaves us naked and unprotected before such a near future.

Notes. As a rule, the festival invites photographers with one single request - to carry out reporting shootings. Of course, from year to year only a few photos are published. Since 2019 accredited photographers have the right to express their attitude to what is happening in the art perspective in a special section “Photo living room”. This year, these are the authors of the Vitebsk club "PhotoCrok" - Vyacheslav Pobedinsky, Gennady Dubinin and Valery Nesterov. 
Thanks to the participation of the crew of the Belarus 3 TV channel in IFMC’2019, the video collection of the festival has been updated with the section “Diaries of IFMC’2019”. Author - TV reporter Dmitry Karas.
And one more innovation. Traditionally we sincerely thank the volunteers of IFMC’2019 and for the first time publish a list of those young people who have devoted their time and efforts to the festival - Vladislav Bobarnov, Vladislav Mironchik, Anastasia Petrova, Veronika Bychenkova, Valeria Kramarenko, Anastasia Chernyavskaya, Kirill Medvedev, Alexey Rizo, Anton Pischelin, Vadim Tozik, Maria Semenkova, Kristina Gavrilova, Elena Polyakova, Ekaterina Shcherbakova, Anastasia Anyukhovskaya, Mikhalina Kharkevich, Daria Raeva, Anastasia Shestel.

Poster and Booklet of IFMC’2019

Eduard Chernivchan
Executive Director of the Festival