Reunion! What a weekend in California! I am enormously grateful to Elizabeth Segerstrom and her incredible team at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts for making this new collective a reality and reuniting us all back together half a year after we left our respective companies in Russia -Bolshoi, Mariinsky, Stanislavsky, Mikhailovsky, Astrakhan, Yakobson- when the invasion of Ukraine happened. This first gathering is just the beginning of something very special and we will be returning to California to give public performances very soon- watch this space. Special thanks is due to Chris Minev and Elina Bakhteeva for their monumental effort to bring the logistics of this group to life and bringing us together from our new homes across the globe. I’m so honoured to be leading this group as their artistic director with my dear friend Gavriel Heine as the music director. Not everyone could attend this first gathering due to visa issues or work commitments but I look forward to seeing more friends join us next time! #Segerstrom #segerstromcenterforthearts