From June 29 to July 19, 2026, St. Petersburg will host Art and Choreography sessions of the international educational project Innopraktika School. The parallel format of the two sessions, successfully tested last season, is becoming a long-standing tradition for the project: over the course of three weeks, young artists, sculptors, dancers, and choreographers will study, create their own works, and explore Russian culture and each other's art work.

The project is being implemented at the initiative of the Innopraktika Company with the participation of leading Russian cultural and educational institutions. The Art Session will take place from June 30 to July 17 in the workshops of St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts, and the Choreography Session will take place from June 29 to July 19 at the Boris Eifman Dance Academy. The overall theme of the School this season is "Creativity Unites." 

Interest in the Art Session remains high: this year, 397 applications were received from 31 countries. Following a competitive selection process, 16 participants — 13 artists and three sculptors — from Vietnam, Spain, Nigeria, Brazil, Canada, India, Colombia, China, and Serbia were invited. During three weeks they will create works and present them at the final exhibition in the Italian Hall of the Academy of Fine Arts on July 17.

"Innopraktika School is now in its seventh year, and each new season proves to us that art is perhaps the only language that requires no translation. It is crucial for us that young authors not only acquire professional skills but also gain experience in lively cultural dialogue. When participants from different countries study together, discuss ideas, observe each other's work, and discover the Russian artistic tradition, art becomes a space for mutual understanding. Holding two sessions simultaneously enhances this effect and makes the project truly interdisciplinary," notes Natalia Popova, First Deputy CEO of the Innopraktika Company. 

The choreography program also remains highly competitive: 342 applications from 56 countries were submitted for the session. The final lineup included 16 students — 13 dancers and three choreographers — from China, France, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Morocco, the Republic of Korea, Bolivia, Mexico, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, the United States, and Belgium. As is traditional, students from the Boris Eifman Dance Academy will also join the international group.

Over the course of three weeks, international participants, Academy students, and Russian choreographers will attend master classes and dance workshops, and create productions that will be included in Innopraktika School Festival "Global Values". Performances will take place on July 18 and 19 at the Boris Eifman Dance Academy Theatre. This year, the participants will be working with Russian choreographers Olga Vasileva, Oleg Gabyshev, Olga Labovkina, and Ksenia Mikheeva — all of whom have collaborated with Innopraktika School in various years. The artistic director of the Choreography Session and the festival is Boris Eifman.

"The parallel format of the two sessions offers participants more than just an intensive course in their field. A unified creative space emerges in St. Petersburg, where artists attend the choreography festival, dancers explore the final exhibition, and everyone gets the opportunity to see how the same idea is expressed in different artistic languages. It is through this exchange that new connections, new meanings, and a sense of shared professional community are born," emphasizes Aleksey Lebedev, Curator of Innopraktika School.

A total of 32 students from 20 countries will participate in the new season of the Innopraktika School. In addition to the educational component, they will enjoy a rich cultural program, including visits to the State Hermitage Museum, the Russian Museum, the Mariinsky and Mikhailovsky Theaters, and the museums-reserve of Peterhof and Tsarskoye Selo. This will be the participants' first encounter with Russia, and St. Petersburg will become a full-fledged participant in the educational process, offering inexhaustible visual and semantic material for creativity.

Innopraktika School continues to develop as an international platform for professional and humanitarian dialogue, where an introduction to Russian culture is combined with active practice. The season will culminate not only in new works and productions but also in professional connections between young representatives of art from different countries, for whom creativity is the primary unifying force.