In 2019, Ukrainian choreographer and dancer, Olga Dukhovnaya, was commissioned by the Moscow Museum of Modern Art to work on a large format with an orchestra and thirty-two dancers. With lockdowns and successive cancellations, this reworking transformed into a solo adaptation, which became an obvious and legitimate choice after Russia was totally cut off following its invasion of Ukraine. This political and historical dimension was already present in the collective subconscious of former Soviet countries where this music had been the official soundtrack to state funerals and large events.

Swan Lake is a legendary ballet, whether used as a propaganda tool or emblematic requiem. Here it is broken down and rebuilt like Lego bricks, erasing the lines between solos and ballet corps, channelling historic movements into a single body and freeing movements from their figurative state to empty them of emotional tragedy. In this magnificent choreographic and musical reworking (with an organic and electronic score by Russian composer Anton Svetlichny), staging and sets are cast aside, and only the initial form remains. Like in her work for Boris Charmatz or Maud Le Pladec, Olga Dukhovnaya offers a sincere and free-moving physical performance.