July 22-23, 2017 Manege is hosting ProToArt Festival, an event that featuresover 100 participantsfromRussiaandbeyond with theircontemporarypaintingsandsculpture, music and theater, performance, video art, hi-tech, mechanical objects and installations. The Festival illustratesmany facets of improvisation is and highlightsthe role it plays in developing an art work. Find more information at protoart.pro and on social media.

ProToArtisan innovative large-scale event set up as collective study of improvisation with all of its aspects that immerses every attendee into a whirlpool of creativity. The Festival launches a unique artistic process that will engulf you in a novel type of art and leisure, so much different from the usual passive contemplation.

ProToArt is an exhibition, a series of concerts, a performance, a theatrical processed piece of art in itself – all of the above created by the people attending. Each guest can choose his or her unique way to go through the Festival programs.

ProToTheaterSpace will be hosting events brought to us by Theater.doc. Their actors will deliver a number of seminars followed by their 2017 show ‘Stories of Women and Gods’.

ProToVisualSpace will be filled with paintings and sculptures created by improvisation of their authors who will also map out their artistic journey.

ProToMusicSpace will be inhabited by musicians from Russia, Austria and the U.S.: Shelley Hirsch (vocals, U.S.), Vitaly Zaitsev (trumpet, Russia), Mikhail Kolovsky (trumpet, Russia), Sergey Letov (saxophone, Russia), Mia Zabelka (violin, Austria), Dmitry Kakhovsky (cello, Russia), Vladimir Volkov (doublebass, Russia), Denis Sorokin (guitar, Russia), Burton Greene (piano, U.S.), Andrey Figa Kondratiev (accordion, Russia), Famoudou Don Moye (drums, U.S.), Dock Gregory (there min, electronics, U.S). The program offers 12 solo performances and spontaneous improvisation, as well as projects combining a number of genres. The climax of the ProToMusic is the final performance of the orchestra with audience participation.

Throughout the entire Manege area, ProToScience Space will present interactive audio and video installations that create visual transformations, sound interpretations and psycho physiological effects generated through the interaction oftheartobjectwiththeviewers and/or the environment. The guests will co author projects and contribute to the soundscape of the whole Festival. Manege’s entrance hall will host the ‘FractalTree’ installation that will last throughout the whole Festival. On top of that, ProToArt will present several other big installations, including ‘Building the Pyramid’, ‘Proto-Music’, ‘Four Elements’, ‘Multichannel Audio Interface’, ‘The Sound and the Wind’, ‘Interactive Sound Objects’ and many other. ProToDance presents a program on fluid improvisation. The guests will be offered master classes, a dance jam and a number of performances topped by a collaborative show featuring all the participants of the dance program: Margarita Marx (Germany), Siny Sarafan Theater, Odd Dance Theater, Alexey Achio, Yulia Bylionok, Denis Kascheev, Stanislava Malakhovskaya and many others.

InProToWordSpace you can either be a part of the audience or an active participant of scientific events aimed at developing creative thinking, public speaking skills and imagination. The program offers a philosophical forum, a continuous philosophy and arts conference, spontaneous discussions, poetry improve session, public readings, word battles and an associative memory training class.

ProToMoviesis the venue for Mikhail Trofimenkov’s original program and lecture on ‘Movies and Improvisation’. Improvisation and Video program will run in parallel.

ProToKidsSpace offers game sessions, master classes on theater, painting, sculpture, music and performance. The program brings collaborative shows from Saint Petersburg artists, musicians and performers. The kids program was designed for our youngest guests and involves all types and genres of contemporary art.

Free entrance for all categories of visitors!

A detailed program can be found on the official website of the festival.