Anton Gainutdinov – Landgraf on Dance

“Planida” (“Russian Character”/“Nerve”/“Francesca da Rimini”)
MuzArts
Maly Theatre/Alexandrinsky Theatre
Moscow/St. Petersburg, Russia
September/November 2025 (video)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2026 by Ilona Landgraf

Tomorrow, MuzArts’ triple bill Planida returns to Moscow’s Maly Theatre where it premiered in September 2025. It combines two old pieces—Nerve by Anna Shchekleina and Francesca da Rimini by Yuri Possokhov—along with Russian Character, a then-new creation by Pavel Glukhov. As in previous productions, dancers of the Bolshoi Ballet will be on stage. Thanks to MuzArts’ executive producer, Daria Faezova, I was able to watch videos of the program recorded at the Maly Theatre and St. Petersburg’s Alexandrinsky Theatre. Continue reading “Traumata”

“Two Annas”
MuzArts
Tovstonogov Bolshoi Drama Theatre
St. Petersburg, Russia
December 2025 (video)

The production company MuzArts, founded in 2014 to showcase the Bolshoi Ballet’s prima ballerina, Svetlana Zakharova, has grown into a vital force of Russia’s ballet scene. Their recent production, Two Annas, was supported by the Diaghilev P.S. International Festival of Arts, a prominent, intercultural, cross-genre event that has been held in St. Petersburg since 2009. Two Annas premiered at St. Petersburg’s Tovstonogov Bolshoi Drama Theatre this February and received its Moscow premiere at the Maly Theatre. Thanks to the MuzArts’s director, Yuri Baranov, I was able to watch a video of the production. Continue reading “Lasting Icons”