Ilya Jivoy was born 33 years ago in what was then Leningrad in the USSR (now St. Petersburg) and studied there at the Vaganova Academy of Ballet, earning his MA in choreography. After graduating the Vaganova, Jivoy spent five years as a dancer and then ten as a dancer/choreographer. Combining his dancing and stage directing career, he managed to work with many worldfamous choreographers, visit the world’s major performing arts venues, and, as a choreographer, collaborate with many ballet stars from Russia and around the world. And the Mariinsky Theatre has gone on to add to its permanent repertoire five ballets and two opera productions featuring Jivoy’s choreography, along with a number of his shorter works. Today Jivoy’s portfolio includes about 20 international projects, and his works have been presented in England, USA, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, Spain, Georgia and other countries. His award-winning The Four Seasons to the music of Max Richter (Vivaldi recomposition) at the Mariinsky Theatre was the last performance featuring Xander Parish before his flight from Russia. “When the war came, my wife and I were in Russia, and I can say simply we were destroyed by this event. Morally. We could not exist in that reality. We could not work normally, sleep normally, or eat. My wife is half Ukrainian, and part of her family is still living in Ukraine near the war front. We have not experienced anything worse than this. I remember very well this feeling of despair and helplessness mixed with indignation and with tears. We just couldn’t find an option to stay—we needed to escape.
We left Russia almost immediately; we didn’t know what was going to happen next. We had to leave everything, our families, our jobs, friends, our apartment, we simply packed up our things, anything we could take, and left,” he said. “I sent dozens of letters seeking collaborations, explaining our story and situation, and then things started to improve. Projects planned before the war were partially preserved, new ones appeared, and people offered help. I think I should talk about this, because it was a period when we worked at the absolute limit, waiting for any chance. We longed to do what we loved again, we wanted to create. We learned to dream again. We love to do what we do. I am so proud, and so grateful that this chapter starts here, that we debut here a new work with this international team bringing this work to this stage. The situation with Reunited in Dance seems to me unprecedented, at least in the 21st century. I am incredibly proud and happy to be part of this exceptional community of like-minded people. As a choreographer, I see great potential for the development of the company and I have no doubt that a great future lies ahead of us. I am grateful to everyone who made this project possible. And I will add one thing: being a director is my life and my vocation, my passion and love. And what could be better than devoting your life to what you love?
E2 to music by Antonin Dvorak (Mariinsky theatre, Russia, 2013)
N.M.H.A to music by Sigur Ros (Bolshoi theatre, Russia, 2013)
Adulte to music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Mariinsky theatre, Russia, 2014)
Connections to music by Johann Sebastian Bach (Mariinsky theatre, Russia, 2015)
SeasonS to music by Max Richter (Mariinsky theatre, Russia, 2016)
The Dreamers to music of Duft Punk (Mariinsky theatre, Russia, 2017)
An Awesome wave to music by Alt-j (VKIBC, New-York, USA, 2017)
The Four Seasons to music by Max Richter (Mariinsky theatre, Russia, 2017)
A Flashback to music by Arvo Pärt (London Coliseum, UK, 2018)
Pulcinella to music by Igor Stravinsky (Mariinsky theatre, Russia, 2018)
I’m not scared to music by Ezio Bosso (Origen Festival Cultural, Juliertheatre, Switzerland, 2018)
Jeu de cartes to music by Igor Stravinsky (Mariinsky theatre, Russia, 2019)
House of memories to music by Max Richter (Origen Festival Cultural, Juliertheatre, Switzerland, 2019)
The Journey to music by Max Richter (M. Dzhalil Academic State Opera and Ballet Theatre Kazan, Russia, 2019)
Sous la Coupole to music by Gustav Mahler (Munich Philharmonic, Germany, 2020)
Touch the light to music by Philip Glass (Mariinsky theatre, Russia, 2020)
Two Rooms to music by Max Richter (“Grand ballet” TV show, Russia, 2020)
Adulte to music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (TanzTeatr Ekaterinburg, Russia, 2020)
The Snow Maiden (opera) to music by Nikolai Rimsky- Korsakov (Mariinsky theatre, Russia, 2020)
Christmas Eve (opera) to music by Nikolai Rimsky- Korsakov (Mariinsky theatre, Russia, 2020)
The Prince to music by Travis Lake (Benois de la Danse, Bolshoi theatre, Russia, 2021)
Re- Birth to music by Max Richter (Factoria Cultural de Terrassa, Spain, 2021)
On My Way to music by A Winged Victory for the Sullen (Factoria Cultural de Terrassa, Spain, 2021)
Fatum to music by Max Richter (Origen Festival Cultural, Riom Castle, Switzerland, 2021)
BA//CH to music by Johann Sebastian Bach recomposed by Peter Gregson (Origen Festival Cultural, Juliertheatre, Switzerland, 2022)
UNIO to music by Peteris Vasks (Kammerballetten Festival, Operaen, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2022)
Carmina Burana to music by Carl Orff (Tbilisi Opera and Ballet State Theatre, Georgia, 2022)
Symphony of Life to music by Anna Seagal (Cleveland ballet, USA, 2023)
The Four Seasons to music by Max Richter (Factoria Cultural de Terrassa, Spain, 2023)
No Words to music by Olafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm (Origen Festival Cultural, Juliertheatre, Switzerland, 2023)
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