Key Cast & Crew
Diana Vishneva
Principal Dancer
Diana Vishneva is a Russian ballet dancer who performs as a principal dancer with both the Mariinsky Ballet (formerly the Kirov Ballet) and the American Ballet Theatre.
Diana Vishneva was born in Leningrad (now St Petersburg). She began to study dance at the age of six. At the age of eleven she entered the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, from which she graduated in 1995 (class of Professor Lyudmila Kovaleva). In 1994 Vishneva won her first victory at the International Young Ballet Dancers’ Competition in Lausanne where she took both the Gold Medal and the Grand Prix. This feat has never been repeated by any other competitor since that day. In 1995, while still a student at the Academy of Russian ballet, Diana Vishneva became a trainee at the Mariinsky Theatre and performed the title role in Cinderella as well as the roles of Kitri in Don Quixoteand Masha in The Nutcracker. Ever since, she has performed lead roles in the international ballet repertoire including works by Petipa and Fokine, Balanchine and Neumeier, Ashton and MacMillan, Alonso and Grigorovich, Béjart and Petit and Preljocaj and Ratmansky at the world’s great theatres in addition to Nureyev, Makarova, Malakhov and Bart’s versions of classical ballets.
In 1996 Diana Vishneva made her debut at the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia as Kitri and she continues to appear there in lead roles in the ballets Swan Lake, Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty, Lost Illusions.
In 1999, together with the Mariinsky Ballet Company she gave her first performance at the Metropolitan Opera, while in 2000 she made her debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, as Aurora (The Sleeping Beauty).
Diana Vishneva’s international career as a guest soloist began in 2001 with her performance together with the Bayerisches Staatsballett in Manon and at the Teatro alla Scala with the ballet The Sleeping Beauty. In 2002 she made her debut at the Berliner Staatsballett (Giselle and La Bayadère). The same year witnessed her Opéra de Paris debut in Don Quixote, where she later went on to give highly acclaimed portrayals of lead roles in the ballets Rubies (from Jewels), Manon and Swan Lake. Since 2003 Vishneva has been a Principal Dancer at American Ballet Theatre. Her repertoire at ABT includes Giselle, La Bayadère, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote, The Sleeping Beauty, Manon, Sylvia, The Dream and The Lady of the Camellias among other works. In the 2010-2011 season she appeared in works presented by the companies of Édouard Lock (Canada) and Martha Graham (USA).
Diana Vishneva’s work has brought the ballerina numerous awards and prizes, among them the title of People’s Artist of Russia, the State Prize of Russia, the Divine prize, the Benois de la danse award, a Golden Sofit, the Spirit of Dance prize in the category in the category “Queen of Dance,” the prize as best dancer of Europe, six Golden Masks and the Ballerina of the Decade prize.
On Diana’s initiative, 2010 saw the establishment of the Diana Vishneva Foundation, a cultural and charitable organisation that works in Russia, the USA and Japan. The main tasks of the foundation are to increase access to ballet for all social classes, to promote it, establish new dance projects and assist young performers and retired performers.
Andrei Severny
Director and Editor
Andrei Severny is a contemporary filmmaker, photographer and video artist. His works operate on multiple levels engaging both intuition and intellect. His stories often integrate scientific analysis, modern art and reveal the unique vision of the future. While on his quest to show the inner world Severny engages in both reality and abstraction. Severny’s narrative and documentary films explore art, human perception, senses, psychology, neuroscience. Since 2007 Severny collaborates with Edward Tufte, a world renown master of analytical design, producer of Severny’s documentary Teaching to See. Andrei Severny’s first feature-length film CONDITION was produced by the fierce independent filmmaker Amir Naderi and premiered at the 29th Torino Film Festival, Italy. Severny was born in 1977 in Moscow, Russia into a family of astronomers.Since 2004 he lives and works in New York City.
Rem Hass
Producer, Original Idea
Rem Khass is producer, architect, founder of Monitor magazine.
Steve Romano
Cinematographer
Born and raised in Brooklyn NY, Steve Romano grew up in a creative environment. His father was a commercial artist, and Steve’s own early interests were Art as well as music. As a drummer, he still plays with bands in and around the city. After studying Film and Television, with a minor in Art, his first film job was actually as a PA/set builder for a low-budget porn company. “The guy told me he did horror movies,” Steve recalls with appropriate amusement. “It seemed like the right thing to do at the time.” Money disputes ended the brief porn career, and Steve found his way to a series of staff positions, first with APA Studios, a special effects company and then to commercial production at One Such Films, Wildlife Management, and 50 Mile Radius working with TableTop Director Bruce Nadel.
Currently a DP/Cameraman, Steve is a Phantom camera pioneer. He beta tested the Phantom HD for Vision Research, as well as owning one of the first manufactured HDs. Steve admits, “It’s still magic to see 1000 fps played back immediately.”
Velocity Media Systems was formed from the need for Digital High-Speed imaging. With over 20 years in the film and video industry, Owner/Operator Steve Romano committed himself to finding the camera technology that would achieve a variable frame rate of up to 1000 fps and beyond. After an exhaustive search and having learned most all of the high speed systems, Steve found Vision Research. For over five years he worked closely with Vision Research to build a camera specifically designed for the film and video production world. That camera is known as the Phantom HD and the all new Flex!. Now, Velocity Media Systems has partnered with Abel Cine Tech to bring this “Cutting Edge” technology to the world.
Steve has now developed a”non-tethered” underwater housing for the Phantom Flex. This now enables the operator/tech to go any where with the camera. No wires to the surface, makes the system able to reach remote locations.
With over 20 years in Film and Video production, Steve has the knowledge and work experience in every aspect of production. Steve has worked on staff at special effects company APA studios as well as OneSuch Films with Table Top Director Bruce Nadel.
Steve has spent his years freelancing as DP, DIT, AC, director, producer and coordinator. As the world turns toward the ease and cost effectiveness of Digital, Steve saw the need for High-speed HD. Now Steve is an expert in the field and is currently training others to fill the ever expanding field. Steve is a member of Local 600 and Just won the ECA grand prize in cinematography, and continues to shoot, edit, direct and produce. He is a still photographer, advanced scuba diver and accomplished drummer.