Alexey Shkolnik
Choreographer. Performance artist.
Bio
Born in 1991 in Minsk but moved with my mother to Russia, Voronezh when I was a one-year old baby. Grow up in Voronezh when in 2006 got in Ballet school (ВХУ) at the folk dance department. In 2010 finished this school obtain the diploma of an artist of a folk dance company.
After one army service in military folk dance company "Red Star" continue my study at Moscow University Of Culture and Art in modern dance faculty as a choreographer from 2011 till 2015.
Next 4 year I spend at Amsterdam University of the Art studying at SNDO where I changed my focus from academic folk and traditional modern dance to experimental movement practices and performance, improving and establishing myself as a maker and performer. In 2019 I finished SNDO.
Artistic statement
My artistic practice is mostly based on my past and personal experiences; these are the entities I can grasp, trust and work with. Those entities I try to connect with now and sometimes future. Throughout my life, I met a lot of violence in different ways - from physical and mental violence to the representation of violence in the form of art and amusement. Besides that, there was a power issue I faced when I resisted some social institutions. Those are the main topics I work with. I'm trying to find ways to turn violence into something positive and find ways to enjoy having power without intention to use it for the harm of others. I explore intense but in a way, pleasureful movement, inspired by fighting and mosh pit which I then combine with softness and slow-motion. Besides that, I like to work with text as a tool mostly to deliver something direct and clear.
Another of my fascinations is technology and the way how it changes human lives and bodies. I see technology as a tool to modify our reality, create and explore others, imaginative and virtual realities. I often feel more attracted to those realities than the one around me.