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Many, many congratulations to Ross Freddie Ray on his beautiful, and emotional choreography for this project inspired to support and raise awareness for multiple sclerosis sufferers, sponsored by Merck Russia. Do watch. It begins poignantly with Rudyard Kipling’s poem ‘If’ (spoken in Russian, with English subtitles) As some here know, Ross trained at the Royal Ballet School, where he was a winner of the Ursula Moreton choreographic award. He was previously a dancer and choreographer with Romanian National Ballet. He is now mostly a choreographer. Though he will be seen dancing as Lord Capulet in Johan Kobborg’s R&J at the Royal Albert Hall later this year. This is an extraordinary project with incredible visuals from Tuen Van Der Zalm (Hollywood visual artist), beautiful costumes by Dmitry Loginov (Russian high end fashion designer) and clever makeup by Yuri Stolyarov (top MUA to Maybelline USA). The visuals are so amazing ... it feels like the stage is floating in space. ▪️Note to mods: please do not merge this with the ‘multiple Sergei Polunin news’ that you have combined into one thread elsewhere. (There is lots more coming to fruition that I haven’t mentioned yet .. I will do it in that thread.) Ross Freddie Ray deserves his own recognition for this exceptional choreography. And there is more to come from him 😉 In this project, yes, Sergei Polunin is the dancer and the ‘name’ that will sell the video, as well as being the networker bringing these top end creatives together. But .... the creativity, concept and the choice of music are all Ross’s own. We will hear more about the relationship of the movements to the choreography in a documentary to follow.

Sergei Polunin has a new dance video coming, filmed in St Petersburg in March and to be premiered on World Multiple Sclerosis Day in May 2021. It is a new collaboration with pharmaceutical giant Merck to raise awareness of Multiple Sclerosis through their “Live a full Life” programme. Music is Ravel’s Bolero, with choreography by Ross Freddie Ray and extraordinary backdrops by Hollywood visual artist Teun van der Zalm (Star Wars and other futuristic movies) Press announcement https://artmoskovia.ru/sergej-polunin-pristupil-k-postanovke-novogo-baleta-v-ramkah-proekta-zhivipolnojzhiznju.html Translation by google: Sergei Polunin has begun staging a new ballet as part of the #LiveFullLife project 03/29/2021 Sergei Polunin, an internationally renowned ballet dancer, president of the Sergei Polunin Charitable Foundation, has become an ambassador for the #LiveFullLife educational project initiated by the scientific and technological company Merck. It’s goal is to educate the public about multiple sclerosis and help people with this disease. Sergei will begin his dialogue in the language of dance and will present a special one-act online ballet "Bolero" dedicated to the topic of multiple sclerosis. The performance is based on the idea that each person can share their energy with everyone around, as long as you find its source within yourself and feel the connection with the Universe. Through dance, Sergey will draw a parallel between multiple sclerosis and ballet, showing how important movement and coordination are in human life, difficulties with which people with this disease often experience. World experts take part in the creation of the production. The ballet will be accompanied by high-tech visual projections, new lighting solutions - this part of the work is supervised by the Dutch visionary artist Teun van der Zalm, the British choreographer Ross Freddie Ray is responsible for the choreography, costume designer - designer Dmitry Loginov, make-up artist - Yuri Stolyarov, director - director of the ballet video version, winner of the TEFI award, Maxim Bespaly. People with multiple sclerosis also take part in the creation of the project - they will read together with Sergei Rudyard Kipling's poem "If ..." translated by S.Ya. Marshak. “This poem perfectly complements the title of the project“ Live life to the fullest ”. The masterpiece by Maurice Ravel, Bolero, performed by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Pierre Boulez, is taken as a musical foundation: fullness, depth and thirst for life are felt in every note of this work, ”says choreographer Ross Freddie Ray. “Living a full life with a chronic illness means being able to do everything that is considered normal for people without a diagnosis: work, travel, play sports, start a family, meet friends. I am very glad that many people with multiple sclerosis, thanks to modern methods of treatment, can live life to the fullest. The #LiveFullLife project was created so that people with multiple sclerosis know that they are not alone, and that, in spite of everything, they need to fight further, ”says Matthias Wernicke, General Director of Merck in Russia and the CIS. “Today social projects inspire people and encourage us not to stop at what has been achieved, not give up, strive for development and new heights. It is a great honor for me to be involved in the #LiveFullLife project, to be able to benefit society and help those who need it most, ”says Sergei Polunin. The premiere of the ballet Bolero will take place in Moscow at the official press conference of Merck on World Multiple Sclerosis Day in May 2021. From that day, Bolero will be available worldwide on Sergei Polunin's official YouTube channel. Photo - Victoria NAZAROVA, copyright holder - Polunin Ink LLC

i am wondering how it went! anyone see any reviews anywhere? i didn't realize it was an outdoor venue, not being familiar with Italy.

I haven’t started a new thread before so please bear with me. Dance Europe subscribers will see an interesting interview in the July edition with Johan Kobborg (he is always interesting!) on the new Romeo and Juliet he is choreographing for Sergei Polunin and Alina Cojocaru in the main roles for Poluninink company. The premiere will be in the Arena Di Verona on Monday 26th August and it will be classical ballet (women en pointe, men in tights) we are told, with a modern take. Intriguing. There are frequent updates via twitter/instagram, from Johan mostly, including names of the others in the 24 strong cast including Valentino Zucchetti as Mercutio, Nikolas Gaifullin (principal at Atlanta Ballet) as Tybalt, and Ross Freddie Ray McCaw (role not yet known). I’m really looking forward to this unique potentially once in a lifetime event.

Rave reviews from Italy for this tour of Fraudulent Smile and Sacre in beautiful summer venues - see poster below. One more show on 27/7. Sergei added an extra performance of ‘Take Me To Church’ last night in the courtyard of Santa Maria Novella in Florence as a ‘thank you’ for the love he is getting there, especially from Florence. Videos can be found on Instagram showing his remarkable emotion, technique and stamina, and in the 40 degree heat. Ross Freddie Ray says ....