On the 2nd of October, Ambassador Marc Franco and his wife Rita Janssen held a reception in the honour of the 3rd International TERRITORIЯ Festival, a multi-discipline festival whose motto is "Art Today!" Russian and international theater directors, choreographers, actors, dancers, art critics, producers and diplomats enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of the Residence and had the occasion to make acquaintances and discuss possible future endeavors. The reception was held after the performance of world famous French choreographer and director Josef Nadj at The Fomenko Theater who performed the premiere of his new piece Entracte. Nadj, his dancers and musicians were also present at the Residence. A slide show of about 800 photos by Vladimir Lupovskoi, who has been photographing Russian and European contemporary dance for the last 20 years, gave the guests the opportunity to see a retrospective of the work of Compagnie Nadj since 1995.

In his speech, the Ambassador underlined that the TERRITORIЯ Festival is a model in its genre. It combines events and educative programs that are aimed at young professionals and students from all of Russia to make them aware of the relevant trends in contemporary world culture. The Ambassador then congratulated the organisers, among which Yevgeny Mironov, Chulpan Khamatova, Kirill Serebrennikov, Teodor Currentzis and Roman Dolzhansky, for their work and dedication to bring European artists to Russia. Kirill Serebrennikov and Roman Dolzhansky, who spoke on behalf of the Festival, expressed their gratitude for the support given to the TERRITORIЯ Festival by the European Delegation.