KSENIA RAVVINA, born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, based in Berlin, Germany, is a theatre director, author and curator. She studied history at Saint Petersburg State University, theatre directing in Frankfurt and applied theatre studies at Justus Liebig University in Giessen.
Ksenia Ravvina works at the intersection of different forms and genres, encompassing performance/theatre, opera and multimedia conceptual works. As a border crosser, she deals with themes such as absence and visibility. Her work is characterized in particular by the scenic articulation of complex theoretical issues by means of an artistic language in which the political and the poetic are indissolubly interwoven.
In recent years, several projects have been created in Germany, Bulgaria, Latvia and the USA, including collaborations with Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Theater und Orchester Heidelberg, Staatstheater Darmstadt, Schauspielhaus Bochum, Dirty Deal Teatro in Riga a.o., and various works in cooperation with Künstlerhaus Mousonturm Frankfurt, Frankfurt LAB, Schwankhalle Bremen, Tanzplattform Rhein-Main, RUHRTRIENNALE, Opera Philadelphia, and Deutsches Theater Berlin.
In 2019, Ksenia Ravvina co-created the opera “DENIS & KATYA” at Opera Philadelphia, USA. The piece garnered worldwide acclaim and received various international prizes (FEDORA – GENERALI Prize for Opera 2019, Finalist of the International Opera Awards 2020, among others). In the same year, she directed “UNTERTITEL. EINE TECHNO OPER IN DREI AKTEN” at Atelierfrankfurt. In spring 2021, she brought the play “THE ARRIVAL” to Theater Münster. In October 2021, her work “IN A REAL TRAGEDY, IT IS NOT THE HEROINE WHO DIES; IT IS THE CHORUS” premiered at Deutsches Theater Berlin.
In the summer of 2022, as part of Sofia’s “180° – laboratory for innovative art” festival, she presented a series of works titled “existinct.” This continued into spring 2023, concluding with a scenic concert under the same title in collaboration with Ensemble Modern.
Starting in the fall of 2023, Ksenia Ravvina, along with Alexandar Hadjiev, will lead the artistic direction of the HAUPTSACHE FREI festival in Hamburg for the next three editions from 2024 to 2026.