VIVERE! Ballet

July 28, 2025
Myasnikov Mansion, Saint Petersburg (Russia)

“This is a ballet about metamorphosis. The protagonist journeys from shadow to light, encountering eternal archetypes of European culture — from Faust to Onegin.It’s not a performance that gives answers, but one that asks: is it possible to be reborn without dying?”

— Pavel Kir

In the halls once graced by the names of Kschessinska, Chaliapin, and Meyerhold, the premiere of Vivere! took place — a new project by artist Pavel Kir, who created both the concept and the libretto.

Vivere! (To live!) breaks conventional boundaries between the physical, the audible, and the visual. It offers a unique experience of intimate co-presence. Performed in close proximity to the audience, the ballet intensified the immersive effect, making each movement and each pause part of a private dialogue with the viewer.

This project marks Pavel Kir’s debut in ballet dramaturgy. His distinctive visual language, already recognized within the international art community, was brought to the stage through video projections.

The graphic visuals, processed with artificial intelligence, served as a “living” scenography — not merely as a backdrop, but as an active spatial field in which the dancers’ bodies interacted with fragments of image, light, and shadow.

The music was composed by Ghrair Khanedanyan, renowned Soviet and Russian tenor, composer, and visual artist — People’s Artist of Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and North Ossetia–Alania.His score for Vivere! became the cathartic core of the production — rich with dramaturgy, emotional intensity, inner conflict, and spiritual searching.

Choreography was created by Mikhail Venshchikov, a graduate of the Vaganova Academy, soloist of the Mikhailovsky Theatre (2001–2020), and founder of the Saint-Michel Ballet Theatre.His staging stood out for its philosophical depth and sculptural clarity. Every gesture was meaningful, and the structure of the ballet conveyed the transformation of the central figure through movement.Venshchikov created a production where classical form reveals a timeless idea.

Costumes played a vital role in the visual atmosphere. Designed by Varvara Yevchuk — scenographer of the Mariinsky Theatre and regular collaborator of the Saint-Michel Ballet — the costumes evoked visual archetypes that helped express the characters’ transformation: from shadow to light, from concealment to revelation.

Choreographer Mikhail Venshchikov

Pavel Kir with composer Ghrair Khanedanyan

The premiere was met with acclaim from both the invited audience and the artistic community. The chamber format allowed for a particularly sensitive perception of the symbolic and emotional layers embedded in the ballet.

The performance at Myasnikov Mansion was conceived as a prelude to a larger vision. In the future, Vivere! will be presented on a major stage.Pavel Kir continues to explore his own dramaturgical language — one where the physical, the visual, and the philosophical merge into a unified artistic space.