SPONSORSHIP OF BALLET BRINGS RUSSIAN ART TO BRITISH AUDIENCES
The opening night of the Eifman Ballet’s dramatic, stirring production of Rodin at the home of the London home of the Royal Ballet, the London Coliseum, brought the best of Russian culture to the heart of British art.
The performance itself featured renowned sculptor Rodin and his passionate, tormented professional and personal life as played out in dance. Yet the story behind the production, and that of its sister show Anna Karenina, speak to the professional and personal relations between Russia and the UK.
The Eifman Ballet’s season at the London Coliseum was sponsored by VTB Capital, a prominent Russian bank that has extensive ties – dating nearly a century – to Britain. Beyond its day-to-day objectives of building relationships with British and European investors, VTB Capital acts as a cultural ambassador for Russian art. Russian ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko, said on the opening night of Rodin that such cross-cultural relations and programmes between the two countries should increase.
VTB Capital’s member of the board and global head of communications and marketing, Olga Podoinitsyna, agrees. She said VTB Capital has long valued innovation in the arts and has pursued partnerships with those organisations that support this vision. VTB Capital also sponsors an exhibition of Russian art through the UK’s Calvert Foundation. Such partnerships are a key means of both promoting the excellence of Russian art in Britain and of pursuing VTB Capital’s goals of building ties between the two countries.
Podoinitsyna has told Communicate in the past, “VTB Capital is a business that develops the reputation of Russia by operating in accordance with all international standards and with a deep knowledge of international investors’ requirements. By supporting the Calvert Foundation, we enhance our social involvement by bringing value for development of the young generation, the creative class as well as its perception by the international community.”
The Eifman Ballet’s London season is just one more step to achieving those goals.
