Pulsating Canceling. 2025

I was invited to collaborate as a performer with the orchestra under the direction of Justyna Zawiślan for a concert based on a motif from a work by the Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev, interwoven with the conductor’s own compositions. The event opened a space for dialogue between the past and the present—both musically and conceptually.

As part of this collaboration, I created an interventionist gesture – the crisis Butoh dance and a sound simulation of a “typical evening” in Ukraine. The climax of the performance involved lighting real firecrackers on stage—short, intense explosions that physically and emotionally disrupted the concert’s flow. This deliberate act was intended to introduce a radical dissonance, break the aesthetic continuity of the event, and convey the reality of life under fire—not metaphorically, but literally and without filters.

Together, we addressed the themes of artists’ responsibility, narrative selection, and cultural canceling. Particularly significant was the juxtaposition of music by the Russian composer—likely chosen for aesthetic, historical reasons, or belief in the autonomy of art—with the brutal context of war.

My stage movement, inspired by Butoh, did not provide answers but posed questions—about the limits of expression, our aesthetic habits, and what we truly consider “uncomfortable.”