By Maria Bregman, a London-based art critic, writer, and curator. Her background includes time spent at the State Academic Classical Ballet Theatre under the direction of Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vasilev – an experience that shaped her approach to perceiving choreography. Her critical writing has appeared in publications such as ArtCulture.UK and Creativity’s UK, as well as in the international editions of ELLE, Cosmopolitan, and Esquire. (Wikipedia)
I was taught to watch the dancers in a ballet theatre – specifically, the State Academic Classical Ballet Theatre located in Moscow, Russia, headed by Natalia Kasatkina and her husband, Vladimir Vasilev. Natalia Kasatkina was also a soloist at the Bolshoi Theatre as well as a former student of Sulamith Messerer. From 1977 until Kasatkina’s death in 2024, the couple ran the theatre.
When I am watching a choreographer create a piece of work, I automatically think about the same two questions: what is the body doing, and why? I also ask myself if it’s possible to figure out the ‘why’ from the perspective of an audience member. There are times when this can be a difficult task.
Watching ballet unexpectedly provided me with a different view of ballroom dancing. Ballroom in the UK is seen as more of a sport or a type of TV show entertainment, than as an art. However, upon learning about Sergei Muslinov’s choreographic work in Belfast, I discovered a great deal of common ground.
Sergei grew up in Russia and started dancing when he was ten years old, in Saint Petersburg. He kept dancing actively until 2016 and took part, by his own count, in 184 competitions. Sergei has experience with a dance ensemble (formation team) in Kazan and won a competition during a festival in 2020. He started studying biology in Kazan and then completed his master’s degree at Queen’s University Belfast. In 2025, dance became Sergei’s main profession in Northern Ireland. He has a very varied background.
Such being the case, it would seem that he could go to London – everything happens there. But he did not do that – he decided to go to Belfast, and that was certainly not an accidental decision. Northern Ireland has far less dance infrastructure than London, so it might mean more to try to create something new there.
The main idea of the choreographer’s methodology is based on the principles of the body functioning. It does not mean that a step can be performed only by some style, but it means that a step is based on the movement of the body. It is quite logical considering the fact that the method has the same roots as the Russian one, and it focuses mainly on the posture and balance. However, it also means that an individual style appears much later. The author works with adults in the Crescent Arts Centre, teaching classes that improve people’s well-being, and with children in the ‘Firebird’ (Zhar-Ptitsa) centre, preparing them for the performance during the season. Moreover, he is engaged in working with dancers in Northern Ireland on choreography. At last, he led a workshop at Queen’s University Belfast that brought dance to researchers. It seems strange that the author works in such different places, but all of them are organized like the ballet school.
The list of his students includes those who have won the Irish Open and who were finalists in the ‘Dance of the Year’ contest. These results are a reflection of the hard work of his students, as well as his own choreography. Often it is Sergei who creates the dance routines that they perform. Training sessions are available for everyone, from beginners to professional dancers, and the technique really works.
Ballroom dancing presupposes that you work in a team of two, and this is another important point for him – the main idea is not how the dancer performs, but how the couple acts together. This principle matters to him as he works not only with individuals, but also with small teams in order to perform showcase dances. He has events organized for December at the Crescent Arts Centre and in a club for the Russian-speaking community.
I think that the unique choreographic language is created here. The pedagogical aspect is obvious; the demonstration must show that the creator managed to transfer theoretical knowledge into practical one.
All photographs courtesy of Sergei Muslinov.
