- 44m
- Premiere 2024
Moses
Moses is a ballet performance based on the poem by Ivan Franko, one of Ukraine's greatest writers and thinkers. It retells the dramatic story of the Jewish people's forty years of wandering in search of the Promised Land. Exhausted by their journey, the people turn away from their leader, while Moses himself is put to a brutal test by the demon Azazel. What price awaits Moses for bearing the weight of a prophet's destiny — and will he ever set foot on the free land he has dreamed of?
Unlike the classical biblical narrative, which centres on faith, Ivan Franko shifted the conflict into the social and political sphere. In his interpretation, the story becomes a parable about national rebirth and the mission of a leader. The leader's path is filled with loneliness and doubt — yet he serves his people regardless. And the people can only achieve freedom when they preserve their unity and unwavering belief.
Franko wrote the poem under the impression of the revolutionary events of 1905. Choreographer Olesia Shliakhtych reimagines this story in a contemporary context: "It resembles the mood of Ukrainians in the current war. The enemy does everything possible to bring us to the edge of despair, to strip away our fighting spirit and force us to retreat one step before victory. This is an ode to the messiah Franko, an address to the messiah Moses, and an address to modern Ukrainians."
Ivan Franko
Olesia Shlyakhtych
Mykyta Kaihoorodov
Petro Bohomazov