The Labyrinth project will make its stage debut at Crocus City Hall following its presentation at the Bolshoi Theatre. This ambitious production is designed to bridge Russian ballet tradition with international perspectives, bringing together a renowned team and a fresh artistic vision. The creators describe Labyrinth as a trio of performances that fuse technical daring with inventive staging, inviting audiences to experience ballet through a contemporary lens and to witness a dialogue between discipline and experimentation.
The creative team includes some of the Bolshoi Theatre’s most celebrated soloists, along with the acclaimed artist Igor Chapurin, sculptor Dashi Namdakov, and the notable Spanish choreographer Patrick De Bana. Their collaboration aims to push the boundaries of traditional ballet by weaving new design concepts into a narrative arc that resonates with modern sensibilities. The program notes emphasize that Labyrinth blends the heritage of Russian ballet with international experience and distinctive artistic solutions, offering audiences a multi-faceted encounter with movement, form, and interpretation.
In The Shining, the stage design envisions futuristic realms inspired by Olaf Stapledon’s The Starmaker, featuring a large moving head, projected portraits of dancers, and striking costumes rendered as long white tunics. The piece was choreographed by Olga Labovkina, a Golden Mask recipient known for translating avant-garde ideas into compelling performance language. The production embraces imagination and visual experimentation to create a sense of otherworldly space that challenges conventional expectations of ballet staging.
The work Nerv explores human relationships and the emotional impact people impose on one another. Patrick De Bana, the Spanish choreographer behind Labyrinth’s anticipated premiere, presents the ballet Minotaur as a centerpiece of the program. His approach reflects a long-standing ambition to reinterpret ancient Greek material for the concert stage, bringing myth and contemporary emotion into a shared dramatic space. The creative intention is to illuminate inner conflict and the nuanced textures of connection, using movement as a language for both tension and revelation.
De Bana has spoken about his creative process in personal terms, noting a sense of instinct guiding his choreography as if listening for a voice that comes from within. He compares his approach to waiting for a form to reveal itself, a natural emergence that resonates with the body’s own pacing and the music’s pulse. This emphasis on organic creation underscores Labyrinth’s aim to merge influence from diverse traditions with a distinctly modern sensibility, producing a performance that feels both rooted and exploratory.
Within the larger context of the program, the ensemble presents a portrait of the ballet world where classically trained technique meets contemporary experimentation. The collaboration brings together performers of exceptional prowess and visual artists who contribute to a holistic theatrical experience. The result is a production that seeks to engage audiences on multiple levels—emotionally, intellectually, and aesthetically—while preserving the discipline and technical mastery that define high-level ballet.