This two-part program brings together artistic positions that have one thing in common: a “twist,” or, a tipping point after which, just like in real life, nothing is ever the same again. Yulia Arsen’s work revolves around a whip in all its symbolic meanings. In tiny steps, Tatiana Chizhikova and Roman Malyavkin deconstruct folk dance in all its ambivalence among virtuosity, bravura and despair. Their work embodies danced resistance to shame and anger, and represents acts of survival in times of upheaval. Both choreographers belong to the younger generation of artists from Russia who currently find themselves in transition in every sense of the word. In their works, they take on disturbing narratives, questioning them, subverting them, and complicating them through embodied practice. Both projects had their European premiere at ImPulsTanz, the Vienna International Dance Festival, in August 2023, initiated by the independent project Institute of Theatre.

YULIA ARSEN
dancer, choreographer

Yulia is an interdisciplinary artist who works at the intersection of dance, theater, and contemporary art. She studied dance in Munich (Iwanson International School of Contemporary Dance) and in Kassel (SOZO Visions in Motion), performing her own works at festivals in Berlin, Freiburg, Kassel, Moscow, Tallinn, Limerick and Bucharest. Over the last few years, she has created pieces for museums (“Know-how,” “7 cringe songs,” and “Recursion”), a theater piece (“Oxytocin”), and many solo and group dance pieces. In 2022, her solo “Plastic Bag” was chosen for AEROWAVES Twenty22.

TATIANA CHIZHIKOVA
dancer, choreographer

Tatiana graduated from the Moscow Choreographic Lyceum as a ballet dancer, and from the Moscow State Academy of Choreography with a BA in Art of Choreography. Tatiana also graduated from SOTA (School of Theater Arts), an educational program for performance art organized by the Institute of Theatre in Moscow. In 2019, she won the [8:tension] Young Choreographers' Award at ImPulsTanz, the Vienna International Dance Festival, with her performance “Time to Time.

ROMAN MALYAVKIN
musician

Roman graduated from the Gnesin Academy of Music (Moscow), and has been a guest performer with the Moscow Ensemble of Contemporary Music, and the Studio for New Music. He has participated in performances of famous Russian composers, in cross-genre performances, and at important festivals of music, theater and contemporary art. He has won international competitions in Lithuania and Germany, and at various music competitions in Russia.