The Diaghilev PS festival, held every year in Russia for more than a decade and directed by Natalia Metelitsa, focuses on bringing contemporary choreography to the public, echoing the steps that famous impresario Sergey Diaghilev took when revealing ballet to the world at large.
This year the festival’s Petersburg debut, held on November 4th, featured a full evening honouring the famous Russian composer Leonid Desyatnikov under the clever moniker “L.A.D” (the composer’s initials). Desyatnikov, hailed for being an “elegant, ironic, Petersburger” and known for his “ability to surprise” in the words of Metelitsa, alludes to numerous classical scores in many of his musical creations, where themes from Tchaikovsky or Saint-Saens suddenly creeping in, only to disappear among a flourish of other unique notes.
For those who may recall, Alexei Miroshnichenko, former artistic director of the Perm Ballet Theatre and prior to that, balletmaster at the Mariinsky, first introduced the balletgoing public to Desyatnikov’s music when he choreographed a pair of ballets to his scores: