Latvian Television will premiere a documentary about Olga Zhitlukhina – “Dance as Live” / Article

Director Agita Cāne-Ķīle said: “The film is a long-awaited and long-cherished work, as Olga’s creative contribution to the field of contemporary dance is very important in Latvian culture, but less well known to a wide audience. The pandemic introduced adjustments time opened another “door” and allowed Olga to get to know him up close – as a person for whom every detail can become an impulse to dance on a daily basis. “

Olga Žitluhina is a choreographer, dancer, initiator and developer of contemporary dance in Latvia. She is the director of the international contemporary dance festival “Time to Dance”, a professor at the Latvian Academy of Culture (LCA), the director of the LCA bachelor’s study program “Contemporary Dance Art”, a teacher at the Riga School of Choreography, and a member of the Latvian Dance Council. Actively teaches and participates in international workshops, dance camps, conferences, residencies, works in the juries of international dance competitions. In 2018 she received an award for her contribution to the art of dance, in 2021 she was recognized as the best dancer of contemporary dance.

“Approaching the personality of contemporary dance to Olga Zhitlukhina was disturbing and inspiring for all our creative team. Olga is a free and independent person, the director of her own life, so no one from the outside is allowed to interfere with it. moments of cultural convergence in Georgia, Venice and Latvia together with her talented students, “revealed the author of the script Daira Āboliņa. Olga has brought up a generation of dancers who create contemporary dance performances in Latvia today. All her current colleagues are her former students. “During the making of the film, we were present for the examinations of Olga Zhitlukhina’s sixth generation students and the first dance steps of the seventh generation,” said Daira Āboliņa.

The dancer’s relationship with the body is special. It’s a tool to take care of, and age is the biggest scare. Training, sweating, injuries and doctors – this is the dancer’s everyday life. The body remembers everything – it remembers the minutes of happiness as well as pain, trauma and falls, while the soul urges not to look back. What is Olga’s driving force and motivation right now? How to develop imagery and sensitivity – what helps or hinders it? Practicing dancing is Olga’s wording. This is her daily routine. There is no dance without joy, and dance is a catharsis of joy – at least in Olga’s life.

The film team consists of director Agita Cāne-Ķīle, screenwriter Daira Āboliņa, cameraman Edgars Bite, composer Juris Kaukulis, producer Artis Dobrovoļskis.

The documentary “Dancing How to Live” (2022) will be shown on Thursday, June 2, at 9.10 pm on LTV1 and REplay.lv.

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