RUSIŠKA RULETĖ
No permit has been issued for the performance. We appologise for the inconvenience.
Russian roulette is an extreme, dangerous game of chance. Players point a revolver with only one cartridge in the cylinder at their forehead and pull the trigger.
Russian roulette symbolises the futility, absurdity, and the DNA of war, encoded in the narratives and principles of today’s warring aggressors. It represents the juxtaposition of life’s two fundamental elements: the symbols of life and death. It is a protracted impermanence, a sociopolitical intervention, a searing insight into the issues of life’s value, its fragility, and the senselessness of human brutality and killing which are inexorably brought into focus by war.
The artistic intervention “Russian Roulette” presents the juxtaposition of life’s two elements: the symbols of life and death. The weapon, symbolising war, brutality, and menace, creates tension as it rotates through 360 degrees, influenced by physical forces, capable at any moment of pointing towards anyone in the world. The flowing river symbolises objective and subjective time. The duration of the performance is 6 hours.
Aira Naginevičiūtė is one of the pioneers of contemporary dance in independent Lithuania. After performing on various stages for many years, Aira continued her creative path by creating dance performances, interdisciplinary projects, and choreography for operas. In 2013, she founded the Airos Dance Theatre. Her list of accomplishments includes over 40 works, many of which have been showcased on prestigious Lithuanian and international stages and during the launches of notable festivals in Asia, Europe, and Africa. Naginevičiūtė is the first Lithuanian contemporary dance artist to be awarded the highest theatre accolade – the Golden Stage Cross – for her production of ‘Processus’ (2003). In 2020, she received the Government Prize for Culture and Art, and on 16 February 2024, the choreographer, contemporary dance pioneer, professor, and theatre founder, Aira Naginevičiūtė, was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit for Lithuania for her radical creative solutions and valued, transformative cultural contributions.
Erika Vizbaraitė, having been dancing since the age of ten, graduated from the M. K. Čiurlionis School of Arts with a major in ballet. She later studied at Rambert Dance College in London. After returning to Lithuania, she continued her bachelor’s and master’s studies at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, majoring in acting and contemporary dance. A performer and creator of various cultural and artistic projects, she has created contemporary dance performances, dance films, and choreography for theatre and cinema productions, musicals, operas, and various cultural and art projects. In 2020, she was voted Best Choreographer of the Year by the Lithuanian Contemporary Dance Association, and in 2021, she was awarded the Golden Stage Cross for her choreography in the exploratory dance performance entitled ‘Apnea’.
Arūnas Adomaitis is a scenographer who creates scenography and installations for dance performances and events, and designs objects for clothing. He has been a long-time collaborator on choreographer Aira Naginevičiūtė’s stage set solutions. Since 1998, Adomaitis’s set designs have been characterised by their unique, transformative, and rule-breaking solutions.
He uses various structures, objects, and environments to create unexpected stage sculptures. Over his 25-year creative career, he has created sets for more than 15 productions. His work creates the impression of moving pictures in the ‘Stiklo Sodai’ (Glass Gardens) performance; transforms spaces with precision, revealing the essence of productions like ‘Melancholijos bokštai’ (Towers of Melancholy) and ‘Fata Morgana II’; encloses the audience in symbolic capsules in the project ‘Alkis’ (Hunger), and lifts dancers to unfathomable heights in the dance installation ‘Nėščia Tyla’ (Pregnant Silence).