Podcasts about mariinsky theater

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Best podcasts about mariinsky theater

Latest podcast episodes about mariinsky theater

(in)sight-reading enlightenment
Lucas Debargue: Music is here to disturb us

(in)sight-reading enlightenment

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 25, 2023 21:37


In this episode, I visit Lucerne and have a glass of wine with the outstanding French pianist Lucas Debargue. ⁠https://www.lucasdebargue.com⁠ His career took off when he won a special prize at the Tchaykowsky Competition in 2015. Debargue was then invited to perform solo recitals, concerts and chamber music concerts in concert halls such as the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theater, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Theatre des Champs Elysées, the Salle Gaveau, Carnegie Hall in New York, etc. We talked about life after fame, problems at the conservatory and why art should be disruptive. You can follow my project for the REMA Early Music Podcast here: https://www.rema-eemn.net/podcasts/ The sound excerpts from Luca's archive and they are taken with his permission from Youtube. He plays Scarlatti, Tchaykowsky, Jazz improvisation and "Nostalgie" by Milosz Magin. Discover more https://insightreadingenlightenment.carrd.co Write to us if you want to support us insightreading.enlightenment@gmail.com Yours, Darina #insightreadingenlightenment #earlymusicpodcastinsightreadingenlightenment #lucasdebargue #fortepiano #piano #tchaykowsky #beethoven #podcast #earlymusicpodcast #darinaablogina #earlymusic #remaawards --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/insight-reading/message

Composers Datebook
Donald Shirley

Composers Datebook

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 29, 2023 2:00


Synopsis Today marks the birthday of the American pianist and composer Donald Shirley, who was born in Pensacola, Florida, in 1927, to Jamaican immigrant parents: a mother who was a teacher and a father an Episcopalian priest. Young Donald was a musical prodigy who made his debut with the Boston Pops at age 18, performing Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto. If Shirley had been born 20 years later, he might have had the career enjoyed by Andre Watts, who born in 1946. But in the late 1940s, when Shirley was in his 20s, impresario Sol Hurok advised him that America was not ready for a black classical pianist, so instead Shirley toured performing his own arrangements of pop tunes accompanied by cello and double-bass. His Trio recorded successful albums marketed as “jazz” during the 1950s and 60s, but Shirley also released a solo LP of his piano improvisations that sounds more like Debussy or Scriabin, and he composed organ symphonies, string quartets, concertos, chamber works, and a symphonic tone poem based on the novel Finnegans Wake by James Joyce. The 2018 Oscar-winning film “Green Book” sparked renewed interest in Shirley's career as a performer, but those of us curious to hear his organ symphonies and concert works hope they get a second look as well. Music Played in Today's Program On This Day Births 1715 - Austrian composer Georg Christoph Wagenseil, in Vienna; 1782 - French composer Daniel-François-Esprit Auber, in Caen; 1852 - British composer Frederic Hymen Cowen, in Kingston, Jamaica; 1862 - English composer Fritz (Frederick) Delius, in Bradford, Yorkshire; 1876 - English composer Havergal Brian, in Dresden, Staffordshire; 1924 - Italian composer Luigi Nono, in Venice; Deaths 1946 - British composer Sydney Jones, age 84, in London, age 84; 1962 - Austrian composer and violinist Fritz Kreisler, age 86, in New York City; Premieres 1728 - Gay & Pepusch: ballad-opera, “The Beggar's Opera,” at Lincoln's Inn Fields, London; This work, mounted by the London impresario John Rich, proved so popular that it was staged 62 times that season; As contemporary wags put it, the wildly successful work “made Gay Rich and Rich Gay&rdquo(Gregorian date: Feb. 9); 1781 - Mozart: opera, "Idomeneo" in Munich at the Hoftheater; 1826 - Schubert: String Quartet in D minor, "Death and the Maiden," as a unrehearsed reading at the Vienna home of Karl and Franz Hacker, two amateur musicians; Schubert, who usually played viola on such occasions, could not perform since he was busy copying out the parts and making last-minute corrections; 1882 - Rimsky-Korsakov: opera "The Snow Maiden," in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Feb. 10); 1892 - Chadwick: “A Pastoral Prelude,” by the Boston Symphony. Arthur Nikisch conducting; 1916 - Prokofiev: "Scythian" Suite ("Ala and Lolly"), Op. 20, at the Mariinsky Theater in Petrograd, with the composer conducting (Julian date: Jan. 16); 1932 - Gershwin: "Second Rhapsody" for piano and orchestra, in Boston, with the Boston Symphony conducted by Serge Koussevitzky and the composer as soloist; 1936 - Constant Lambert: "Summer's Last Will and Testament" for chorus and orchestra, in London; 1981 - John Williams: first version of Violin Concerto (dedicated to the composer's late wife, actress and singer Barbara Ruick Williams), by Mark Peskanov and the St. Louis Symphony conducted by Leonard Slatkin; Williams subsequently revised this work in 1998; This premiere date is listed (incorrectly) as Jan. 19 in the DG recording featuring Gil Shaham; Links and Resources On Donald Shirley

Composers Datebook
Contrasting premieres by Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich

Composers Datebook

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2022 2:00


Synopsis It's strange to read the doubts Tchaikovsky expressed in letters about many of his greatest musical works, which he first would dismiss as failures, only to change his mind completely a few weeks later. Take, for example, his ballet The Nutcracker, which had its premiere performance on this day in 1892 at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. Tchaikovsky described working on the ballet as a "dread-inspiring, feverish nightmare, so abominable that I don't think I have the strength to put it into words." At the time, Tchaikovsky was MUCH more optimistic about an opera he was writing titled Yolanta—only to abruptly changed his mind, writing "Now I think that the ballet is good and the opera nothing special." This time, Tchaikovsky got it right—although initially the opera DID prove more popular than the ballet. Another—and deliberately nightmarish—Russian composition had its first performance on this same day 70 years later. This was the Symphony No. 13 by Dmitri Shostakovich, subtitled Babi Yar, based on poems of Yevgeny Yevtushenko. This choral symphony was first heard on today's date in 1962 at the Moscow Conservatory, but was quickly banned by the Soviet authorities. Its title poem, Babi Yar, called attention to Soviet indifference to the Holocaust and persistent anti-Semitism in Soviet society. Yevtushenko later softened these lines so the symphony could be performed in the U.S.S.R. Music Played in Today's Program Peter Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) The Nutcracker Ballet, Op. 71 Kirov Orchestra; Valery Gergiev, cond. Philips 462 114 Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) Symphony No. 13, Op. 113 (Babi Yar) Nicola Ghiuselev, bass; Choral Arts Society of Washington; National Symphony; Mstislav Rostropovich, cond. Erato 85529

Composers Datebook
A String Quartet by John Adams

Composers Datebook

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 29, 2022 2:00


Synopsis In New York City on today's date in 2008, The Juilliard School's FOCUS! Festival showcased music from the opposite coast, including the world premiere of a new string quartet by Californian composer John Adams. Some 14 years earlier, Adams had written a work for the Kronos Quartet and pre-recorded tape that he titled “John's Book of Alleged Dances,” because, as he said, “the steps for the dances had yet to be invented.” His new work for 2008 had a more serious title: simply, “String Quartet,” and was premiered by the St. Lawrence String Quartet.  Adams had heard the Saint Lawrence Quartet perform his “Book of Alleged Dances,” and was so impressed he wanted to write a new work for the ensemble, but found it an intimidating experience, given the great string quartets written by composers of the past ranging from Haydn to Ravel. “String quartet writing is one of the most difficult challenges a composer can take on,” confessed Adams. “Unless one is an accomplished string player and writes in that medium all the time – and I don't know many these days who do – the demands of handling this extremely volatile and transparent instrumental medium can easily be humbling, if not downright humiliating.”  Music Played in Today's Program John Adams (b. 1947) — String Quartet (No. 1) (St. Lawrence String Quartet) Nonesuch 523014 On This Day Births 1715 - Austrian composer Georg Christoph Wagenseil, in Vienna; 1782 - French composer Daniel-François-Esprit Auber, in Caen; 1852 - British composer Frederic Hymen Cowen, in Kingston, Jamaica; 1862 - English composer Fritz (Frederick) Delius, in Bradford, Yorkshire; 1876 - English composer Havergal Brian, in Dresden, Staffordshire; 1924 - Italian composer Luigi Nono, in Venice; Deaths 1946 - British composer Sydney Jones, age 84, in London, age 84; 1962 - Austrian composer and violinist Fritz Kreisler, age 86, in New York City; Premieres 1728 - Gay & Pepusch: ballad-opera, “The Beggar's Opera,” at Lincoln's Inn Fields, London; This work, mounted by the London impresario John Rich, proved so popular that it was staged 62 times that season; As contemporary wags put it, the wildly successful work “made Gay Rich and Rich Gay&rdquo(Gregorian date: Feb. 9); 1781 - Mozart: opera, "Idomeneo" in Munich at the Hoftheater; 1826 - Schubert: String Quartet in D minor, "Death and the Maiden," as a unrehearsed reading at the Vienna home of Karl and Franz Hacker, two amateur musicians; Schubert, who usually played viola on such occasions, could not perform since he was busy copying out the parts and making last-minute corrections; 1882 - Rimsky-Korsakov: opera "The Snow Maiden," in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Feb. 10); 1892 - Chadwick: “A Pastoral Prelude,” by the Boston Symphony. Arthur Nikisch conducting; 1916 - Prokofiev: "Scythian" Suite ("Ala and Lolly"), Op. 20, at the Mariinsky Theater in Petrograd, with the composer conducting (Julian date: Jan. 16); 1932 - Gershwin: "Second Rhapsody" for piano and orchestra, in Boston, with the Boston Symphony conducted by Serge Koussevitzky and the composer as soloist; 1936 - Constant Lambert: "Summer's Last Will and Testament" for chorus and orchestra, in London; 1981 - John Williams: first version of Violin Concerto (dedicated to the composer's late wife, actress and singer Barbara Ruick Williams), by Mark Peskanov and the St. Louis Symphony conducted by Leonard Slatkin; Williams subsequently revised this work in 1998; This premiere date is listed (incorrectly) as Jan. 19 in the DG recording featuring Gil Shaham; Links and Resources More on John Adams More on the string quartet and its history

SBS Russian - SBS на русском языке
Australian Jasmine Henry will dance at the Mariinsky Theater - Австралийка Жасмин Хенри будет танцевать в Мариинском театре

SBS Russian - SBS на русском языке

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 19, 2021 9:45


A young dancer from Perth Jasmine Henry has just graduated from the the Vaganova Academy and she became the first Australian to join the historical Mariinsky Theatre. SBS Russian talked to Jasmine. - Австралийка Жаcмин Хенри стала первой балериной из Австралии, которую приняли на работу в легендарный Мариинский театр в Петербурге. Родом из Перта – Жаcмин уехала в Россию в 15 лет, поступив в Академию русского балета им. Вагановой. SBS Russian пообщались с Жасмин после ее выпускного бала и незадолго до начала работы в Мариинском.

australian dance ballet ballerina russian culture mariinsky theatre mariinsky theater sbs radio russian
The Stage Rightside with James Whiteside
Xander Parish: Mariinsky Star

The Stage Rightside with James Whiteside

Play Episode Listen Later May 8, 2020 43:24


James chats with British dancer Xander Parish about his rise to principal dancer at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. They discuss hot topics such as Russian culture, Sergei Polunin, and more.   Premier Dance Network website   James on Instagram JamesWhiteside.org Upcoming Performances

british russian petersburg parish mariinsky sergei polunin premier dance network mariinsky theater
10K Dollar Day
Cowboys, Aliens and Bath Houses. (42)

10K Dollar Day

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 9, 2018 45:56


We're not sure about anything except we love Cowboys, Aliens and Ramen. INTRO: (00:00) Lulu thinks it's episode 41. It's not, this is episode 42. But ahhhh, what a great episode 41 was. You can watch it here. After a fun month in NYC with amazing meals and amazing guest googlers, we are settling back in to everyday life. Thankfully we found this upgrade from your basic Ramen noodles that helps us not miss the bougie kind as much.OBSESSIONS: (4:28) Alison is obsessed with this cartoon her friend Anthea created, Jimmy Dean Adventures. To no surprise, Lulu is obsessed with fall in New York. Your makeup doesn't melt, and you can wear layers!WISHLIST: (8:47) Alison is wanting a handheld spiralizer. Lulu wishes for shipments from Get Maine Lobster. Wait, unless they are live lobsters that show up at your door.ALISON’S 10K DAY - ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA: (12:34) Alison stays in the Royal Suite at Rocco Forte Astoria Hotel. A luxe day in Russia includes black car service and caviar at Astoria. She heads to Sandunovsky Banya, a luxurious bath house. Whoops! Alison mistakenly thinks this is in St. Petersburg, when it is actually in Moscow. Maybe we shouldn't have ditched our guest googlers just yet. For dinner she goes to Staraya Tamozhnya where they do molecular gastronomy. Also, Alison orders a $900 bottle of Sauternes Wine before taking in a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Mariinsky Theater.LULU’S 10K DAY - PIONEERTOWN, CA: (23:00) Lulu is staying at an eclectic villa in this hip desert community that was founded as a western movie set. A stop at C&S Coffee Shop then a walk down old-timey streets. Next is a sound bath at The Integraton, a resonant tabernacle located on a geomagnetic vortex in the desert. Alison interrupts to tell Lulu that her day sounds like a "cowboys & aliens" theme. Guess what, IT IS! Lulu's using Sixt to bring in friends from LA to be a part a Star Trek Flash Mob! And in true 10k style, she selected the upgrade to SiriusXM access. Lulu orders everyone Star Trek costumes. Time for a screening with the box sets of several series, projectors, and these inflatable movie screens. She caters dinner for everyone from Pappy & Harriet's. She paid for everything for these folks, glad I'm friends with her!CHARITIES: (36:04)Passage ZebraThe Wildlands ConservancyFOLLOW US: FacebookInstagramYoutubeTwitterWebsiteApple PodcastsGoogle Podcasts

Slow Russian
79 – Russian ballet

Slow Russian

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 24, 2018 13:49


Text in Russian: Русский балет Балет в России стал одной из визитных карточек нашей страны. Согласно источникам, первое представление прошло еще в 1670-е, во время царствования царя Алексея Михайловича. Настоящий расцвет русского балета пришёлся на рубеж 18-19 веков, и к началу 20 в. он занял ведущее место в мировом балетном театре. Всемирно известные русские балеты – «Лебединое озеро» и «Щелкунчик» П.И. Чайковского, «Ромео и Джульетта» С. Прокофьева и «Спартак» А. Хачатуряна. Если вы когда-нибудь будете в России, обязательно сходите в Большой театр в Москве или Мариинский театр в Санкт-Петербурге.   Translation Ballet in Russia has become one of the calling cards of our country. According to sources, the first performance took place in 1670, during the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The real flowering of the Russian ballet fell on the turn of the 18-19th centuries, and by the beginning of the 20th century, it took the leading place in the world ballet theater. World-famous Russian ballets - "Swan Lake" and "The Nutcracker" P. Tchaikovsky, "Romeo and Juliet" by S. Prokofiev and "Spartacus" A. Khachaturyan.  If you ever come to Russia, be sure to visit the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow or the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. Join my Membership program for more lessons – https://realrussianclub.com/membership/ Support my podcast here –  https://www.patreon.com/realrussianclub or on PayPal – slowrussian@gmail.com 

Ballet Uncovered ~ Balancing Pointe Podcast
22 - Ekaterina Shchelkanova, Open World Dance Foundation - Part Two

Ballet Uncovered ~ Balancing Pointe Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 7, 2014 35:27


Ekaterina Shchelkanova, a former soloist of American Ballet Theatre and Kirov Ballet, established the Open World Dance Foundation in 2010 after recognizing that the art form she loves could help the many orphans in her hometown of St. Petersburg, Russia. Through Open World Foundation, she also runs a successful summer intensive program, presenting students a rare opportunity to train with master teachers with a direct connection to Vaganova Ballet Academy. Ekaterina, or Katya, began her journey in St. Petersburg, Russia. From the time she was a little girl, she dreamed of becoming a dancer. In 1988, she graduated from the Vaganova Ballet Academy,;in the class of Professor Ludmila Safronova, one of Agrippina Vaganova's last students. She was invited to the Kirov, now Mariinsky Theater, and started her career with the company as a soloist. After performing the Kirov rep for several years, Katya decided to uproot and move to New York. In a class with beloved teacher David Howard, she had a chance meeting with Mikhail Baryshnikov. After explaining that she was not dancing with a company at the time, he encouraged her to keep dancing. With his words of encouragement, she built her confidence and in January 1995, Ekaterina joined the American Ballet Theatre (ABT). There she worked with choreographers Twyla Tharp and Mark Morris, dancing solo and leading parts in the broad repertoire of American Ballet Theatre and travelling extensively with the company. In 2001, Ekaterina left ABT to work with Twyla Tharp in creating "Moving Out", the Broadway musical by Billy Joel. Just one year later, she debuted in the Oscar award winning film, Chicago, in the role of Hunyak. She and the other principal actors received a Screen Actors Guild Award. Then in 2004, Ekaterina produced and starred in The End of Silence,a film by Anita Doron. Later, in 2005, Ekaterina served as Artistic Director of Berlin Children's Art Festival and began her teaching and coaching career at Royal Ballet of Canadian and Les Grands Ballet Canadiens de Montreal. In her heart, Katya knew she needed to reach out to children in a more meaningful way. She began to reflect on the difficult life of a ballet dancer and her gratitude for her much needed family's support. She then started to wonder about those who don't have parents. These thoughts lead Ekaterina to research orphans in Russia, a country that has the highest number of orphans anywhere in the world. Russian orphanages are numbered rather than named; there are 120 in St. Petersburg alone. Ekaterina knew she had to get involved, and when she mentioned the idea to her friend, Baryshnikov, he encouraged her to follow her instinct. The Open World Dance Foundation Summer Intensive is now in its third year and will be held in Riga, Latvia, birthplace of Mikhail Baryshnikov, Maris Liepa, and Alexandr Godunov. dancers. Auditions in America are held in five different locations throughout January or can be submitted via DVD. The intensive presents a rare opportunity to train with master teachers with a direct connection to Vaganova Ballet Academy of St Petersburg, Russia receiving coaching from the world's most elite instructors. Open World Dance Foundation will also be offering their first teachers program and conference for ballet instructors, coaches, and studio owners lead by Professors of Vaganova Academy Irina Trofimova and Ludmila Safronova who were both students of Agrippina Vaganova. These amazing women will provide lectures on Vaganova methods by level which will be followed immediately with observation of their teaching reinforcing those approaches as they are used in the studios of the summer intensive program. Special pricing available for those attending with students.

Conducting Business
Russia's Classical Stars Expected at Sochi Olympics Opening Ceremony

Conducting Business

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 5, 2014 13:04


Despite efforts to keep the content of the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics under tight wraps, a few details have emerged about the musical lineup planned for Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi, Russia on Friday. Several Russian performers have been linked to the ceremony, including conductor Valery Gergiev, violist Yuri Bashmet, and Mariinsky Theater ballerina Ulyana Lopatkina. They'll join a parade of athletes and other pageantry to create what is reportedly the most expensive opening ceremony in Olympics history. To help explore the cultural significance of the Sochi games, host Naomi Lewin speaks with Simon Morrison, a professor of music history at Princeton University who specializes in Russian music and dance. He’s currently writing a book on the history of the Bolshoi Ballet.   What is conductor Valery Gergiev’s role and why was he chosen to participate? President Vladimir Putin named Gergiev as an official ambassador of the Sochi Olympics "because he is really the leading cultural export of Russia," said Morrison. Gergiev has a well-publicized friendship with Putin, and "can basically pick up the phone and get a hold of the president." This has made Gergiev a lightning rod. In recent months, his concerts in the West have been targeted by protesters against Russia's law that criminalizes the dissemination of "gay propaganda" to minors. "Naturally, given his jet-setting, his prominence and his panache, he's an emblem of Russia today," added Morrison.   Along with the celebrity performers, there are plans for a 1,000-voice children’s choir. What do we know about this? Gergiev has been making the rounds with a newly-formed, national children's chorus. Morrison believes it’s an effort to project an inclusive, diverse image for the country. "I think they’ll sing some big hymn," he said. “I don’t think it will be a nationalist hymn like ‘Slava’ from [Glinka’s] A Life for the Tsar since that’s a hymn that deals with Russia suppressing Poland and that wouldn’t be very international and cosmopolitan.” The chorus is reminiscent of the "Friendship of the Peoples," an old Soviet mantra referring to cooperation among Russia's ethnic and social groups. "Plus, a thousand children really suggests they want to rival with Beijing,” Morrison adds, referring to the grand spectacle of the 2008 Beijing Olympics ceremonies. Below is a video of the enormous Russian choir performing last month at the Mariinsky Theater: What other types of music can we expect? This has been a closely-guarded secret, but the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow may provide a few clues to current thinking. Expect Tchaikovsky ballet music, perhaps some Rimsky-Korsakov and grand choral numbers. “For choral music, maybe something that reaches back to the Catherine the Great era since, in many respects, this current regime would like to see itself – and the public would like to see it – as a sort of more benign imperialism,” said Morrison. "So I think the opening ceremonies will be a reinforcement of that.”   Any surprises in the works? "One of the things that’s rumored – and if this happens, it will be truly sensational and a real stick in the eye to the West – is that there is this pop duo named t.a.T.u.,” said Morrison. The duo consists of two young women whose stage show involves Lesbian schoolgirl imagery. “That’s part of their shtick. They were notorious as well as popular with the younger set." If that happens, argues Morrison, it will be a subversion of Western protests against the anti-gay law. Last week, several Russian news outlets reported that the duo Tweeted about their involvement in the ceremony (the alleged Tweet was later deleted and doubts persist about the post's truthfulness). Photo: Wikipedia Commons.   What other figures from Russian culture or entertainment may take part in the opening or closing ceremonies? The soprano Anna Netrebko will sing the Olympic Anthem in the Opening Ceremony and has also been rumored to sing in the closing ceremony. There have been suggestions that Sergei Filin, artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet who was the victim of an acid attack last January, will have a role. “So I’m sure we will see the elite cultural representatives,” Morrison said. A spokesman for pianist Denis Matsuev told WQXR that he will be performing not in the opening ceremonies, as has been reported, but in the closing events.   Any bets on a grand musical finale? Says Morrison: “My money is on Swan Lake.”   The opening ceremony to the Sochi Olympics will be televised on NBC this Friday starting at 7:30 ET. (Updated 2/7.)

Ballet Uncovered ~ Balancing Pointe Podcast
21 - Ekaterina Shchelkanova, Open World Dance Foundation - Part One

Ballet Uncovered ~ Balancing Pointe Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 31, 2014 44:05


Ekaterina Shchelkanova, a former soloist of American Ballet Theatre and Kirov Ballet, established the Open World Dance Foundation in 2010 after recognizing that the art form she loves could help the many orphans in her hometown of St. Petersburg, Russia. Through Open World Foundation, she also runs a successful summer intensive program, presenting students a rare opportunity to train with master teachers with a direct connection to Vaganova Ballet Academy. Ekaterina, or Katya, began her journey in St. Petersburg, Russia. From the time she was a little girl, she dreamed of becoming a dancer. In 1988, she graduated from the Vaganova Ballet Academy,;in the class of Professor Ludmila Safronova, one of Agrippina Vaganova's last students. She was invited to the Kirov, now Mariinsky Theater, and started her career with the company as a soloist. After performing the Kirov rep for several years, Katya decided to uproot and move to New York. In a class with beloved teacher David Howard, she had a chance meeting with Mikhail Baryshnikov. After explaining that she was not dancing with a company at the time, he encouraged her to keep dancing. With his words of encouragement, she built her confidence and in January 1995, Ekaterina joined the American Ballet Theatre (ABT). There she worked with choreographers Twyla Tharp and Mark Morris, dancing solo and leading parts in the broad repertoire of American Ballet Theatre and travelling extensively with the company. In 2001, Ekaterina left ABT to work with Twyla Tharp in creating "Moving Out", the Broadway musical by Billy Joel. Just one year later, she debuted in the Oscar award winning film, Chicago, in the role of Hunyak. She and the other principal actors received a Screen Actors Guild Award. Then in 2004, Ekaterina produced and starred in The End of Silence,a film by Anita Doron. Later, in 2005, Ekaterina served as Artistic Director of Berlin Children's Art Festival and began her teaching and coaching career at Royal Ballet of Canadian and Les Grands Ballet Canadiens de Montreal. In her heart, Katya knew she needed to reach out to children in a more meaningful way. She began to reflect on the difficult life of a ballet dancer and her gratitude for her much needed family's support. She then started to wonder about those who don't have parents. These thoughts lead Ekaterina to research orphans in Russia, a country that has the highest number of orphans anywhere in the world. Russian orphanages are numbered rather than named; there are 120 in St. Petersburg alone. Ekaterina knew she had to get involved, and when she mentioned the idea to her friend, Baryshnikov, he encouraged her to follow her instinct. The Open World Dance Foundation Summer Intensive is now in its third year and will be held in Riga, Latvia, birthplace of Mikhail Baryshnikov, Maris Liepa, and Alexandr Godunov. dancers. Auditions in America are held in five different locations throughout January or can be submitted via DVD. The intensive presents a rare opportunity to train with master teachers with a direct connection to Vaganova Ballet Academy of St Petersburg, Russia receiving coaching from the world's most elite instructors. Open World Dance Foundation will also be offering their first teachers program and conference for ballet instructors, coaches, and studio owners lead by Professors of Vaganova Academy Irina Trofimova and Ludmila Safronova who were both students of Agrippina Vaganova. These amazing women will provide lectures on Vaganova methods by level which will be followed immediately with observation of their teaching reinforcing those approaches as they are used in the studios of the summer intensive program. Special pricing available for those attending with students.