Vértigo

The program of one-act ballets

Russian premiere

Duration of the program: 1 hour 40 minutes with two intermissions
The Alexandrinsky Theatre
12+
April 11 2026
7 pm

For Dance Open team, the debut of the National Dance Company of Mexico in Russia is an exceptional event. A company of outstanding artistic and technical level presents in St. Petersburg a program of four ballets by some of the most significant choreographers of our time.

Vértigo
хореография: Соня Хименес
музыка: Артуро Маркес
костюмы: Гильермо Варгас (1/8 Такамира) и Бланка Карреон
световое оформление: Эльвира Рамос

Продолжительность: 9 минут
Sonia Jiménez's choreography is a dance on the edge. The heroine is suspended in vertigo, poised on the brink of a leap into the unknown. The instinct of self-preservation still restrains her, yet a storm of emotions, doubts, and fears builds an almost unbearable tension… Arturo Márquez's explosive score fuels this confrontation with raw energy, shaping a piercing metaphor of inner struggle.
Déjà
Choreography: Edgar Zendejas in collaboration with the dancers
Assistant Choreographer: Jacqueline Lopez
Choreography and Costume Design: Mauricio Asensio
Musical Composition: Hugo Morales Zendejas

Duration: 15 minutes
Choreographer Edgar Zendejas and his dancers become conduits for a work he believes already existed in the realm of ideas. Déjà is the process of giving form to a vision — each gesture carved with sculptural precision. A refined contemporary movement language and a minimalist visual design create the atmosphere of a focused laboratory experiment, where the beauty of pure form is born.
Gnawa
Choreography: Nacho Duato
Stage Director: Thomas Klein
Music: Hassan Hakmoun, Adam Rudolph, Juan Alberto Arteche, Javier Pajariño, Rabih Abu-Khalil, Velez, Kusur, Sarkissian
Costume Design: Devota & Lomba
Costume Production: Gabriela Ayala, America Diaz, Miguel Garaventa
Lighting Design: Nicolas Fischtel

Duration: 20 minutes
In Gnawa, Nacho Duato creates a mesmerizing ritual inspired by the heritage of the Gnawa people. The music — a hypnotic fusion of Spanish and North African influences — establishes a pulsating rhythm, while the dancers' movements, at times fluid and at times sharply articulated, evoke images of ancient ceremonies. This is a meditation on roots, migration, and creative force that emerges at the crossroads of civilizations.
Hikarizatto
Choreography, lighting design, and costumes: Itzik Galili
Music: Niels van Hoorn and Janwillem van der Poll
Staging: Elizabeth Gibiat

Duration: 18 minutes
The work of Israeli choreographer Itzik Galili is a hymn to light. Here, light becomes a full co-author of the performance and its central metaphor. The title, derived from the Japanese words for "light" (光, hikari) and "presence / being nearby" (里, zatto), speaks for itself. Galili dissolves movement within a play of illumination, tracing dance through beams, shadows, and reflections to create a living, breathing architecture of light — a purifying, almost transcendent experience.