Vers le Mystère
The program encompasses a set of piano pieces by Alexander Scriabin, from the middle and late periods of his legacy: particularly miniatures with programmed titles, such as “Fragilité”, “Danse Languide”, “Énigma”, “Désir”, “Caresse Dansée”, “Guirlandes”, “Flammes Sombres” among others. Each of these miniatures represents a transient character that is very unique and poignant. The 20 works by Alexander Scriabin, from Opp. 45, 49, 51, 52, 56, 57, 63, 72, and 73 are represented in a performance featuring a collaboration between piano and contemporary dance improvisation.
“Vers le Mystère” is an artistic research of the following hypothesis: how is it possible to embody these characters via a crossdisciplinary collaboration and make them more vivid through the feedback expressed in particular elements elaborated through the dance. Combined together, the aforementioned elements aid in creating a unique intersubjective system of transcribing particular musical devices into the movement, which in turn allow to pass the material between the collaborators, thus making the interpretation extensively interpersonal. Henceforth, the musical score serves as a medium to base the concept upon, however, the system that was unfolded and developed in the process can now be regarded a means of communication in a sense, making it possible to interchangeably articulate the material through various artistic disciplines.
With the help of a crossdisciplinary exchange and due to the sharpening of the human senses in such a setting, artistic interpretation can be manifested in ways that create a profound impact for both, the audience as well as for the performers themselves. This approach leads to limitless possibilities of creating a cross-disciplinary dialogue, namely a true synthesis of the arts, which was the biggest, life-long aspiration of Alexander Scriabin.
Internal Supervisors and External Advisors: Markus Schirmer (KUG), Deniz Peters (KUG).
Elina Akselrud
Piano
American pianist and fine art photographer of Ukrainian origin Elina Akselrud is the founder and artistic director of a multidisciplinary organization Intertwining Arts, as well as the lead artist of all its crossover projects. Elina made her orchestra debut at the age of eight, studying at Kyiv Special Music School with Irina Lipatova and Irina Barinova. She is a prize winner of international piano competitions, such as Chopin on Thousand Islands’10, USA (1st Prize), Chopin in Hartford’12, USA (1st Prize), Midwest’14 in IA, U.S.A (2nd Prize), Chopin in Canberra’14, Australia (3rd Prize) and others. Elina has performed throughout Europe, Australia, and USA; she appeared with orchestras, such as the Ukrainian National Orchestra, the Kaufman Center Orchestra, NEC Symphony, and Lucerne Symphony, among others. Elina Akselrud received her education at Mannes School of Music in New York City, USA (Bachelor of Music’12), New England Conservatory in Boston, USA, with Alexander Korsantia (Master of Music’14), Hochschule Luzern – Musik in Lucerne, Switzerland, with Konstantin Lifschitz (Master of Arts in Music, Major Solo Performance’18), and Scuola di Musica di Fiesole in Florence, Italy, with Eliso Virsaladze. Elina is currently working on her Doctoral Degree in Artistic Research at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, Austria, where her project Artistic Interpretation in a Crossdisciplinary Context - Late Piano Œuvre of Alexander Scriabin has been supervised by Markus Schirmer and Deniz Peters, and where she holds a position of a research assistant.
Lea Orož
Dance
Lea Orož is a freelance professional dance artist based in London. For the past 4 years she has performed for fashion projects such as Issey Miyake, Another magazine, Numero magazine Berlin, Hermés, Burberry, Roksanda, Koibird Fashion Campaign and Buro Fashion Magazine to name a few. Throughout her dance career she has worked with various choreographers, companies and institutions such as Holly Blakey, Jose Agudo, Maxine Doyle, Alexandra Green, Benjamin Jonsson, Temper Theatre and Royal Opera House. She has appeared in TV series, film, commercials, music videos, and installations such as Immersive Art installation performance in Shoreditch house created by Hannah Marshall Studio, BBC series Mood, Brave New World, Nestle, M&S, Samsung, a music video from a major Greek artist Giannis Haroulis. She has recently performed her personal solo work collaborating with cellist in Slovenia.
Lea has also been movement directing projects such as short dance promo video for documentary Born of Violence, short film Manema, as well as solo exhibition Othered in a region that has been historically Othered at Focal Point Gallery by British African-Caribbean artist, producer and activist Elsa James. Lea recently started collaborating and performing with various musicians where she further explores how musicality can affect her movement language and vice versa.