chrysalis: russia

Choreographer Xander Parish takes a psychological approach to the notion of Chrysalis. Shot in both Moscow and St Petersburg, a dancer who has lost meaning in his life wanders through these cities seeking some kind of sanity or purpose. in the time of the pandemic, he is barred from the stage. He has lost purpose, and feels he has lost his very self. The music by Tom Carr evokes the feeling of being trapped: it is minimalist phase music, which begins with the marimba and bass together beating a driving rhythm. The rhythm is a force outside of the dancer; it is beyond his control, and yet he must move to it. The film develops by showing the mind of the dancer as he frantically tries to remember how else in his life he has derived meaning--he remembers dancing, training, his family and early childhood… Finally a moment of transition happens. He encounters another dancer, a woman. Neither can dance on a stage, but they break into a solemn dance in the streets together, which then becomes joyous and almost frenzied. This film should evoke a sense of surprise: finding joy in unexpected places when the normal sources have run dry.