Russian classical ballet has for many years been one of Russia's main cultural exports and one of the symbols of Russian art and culture abroad. Beauty of the Beast proposes to look at Russian classical ballet as an aestheticized form of violence against the individual and the human body.

Today, as the Russian army destroys Ukrainian cities and kills civilians, inhumanity and destruction are becoming true symbols of Russia. How can this metamorphosis change the way we view Russian classical ballet? Can it still be a cover for the disregard of the law, for anti-humanism and for the imperial ambitions of the Russian elite?

The performance is based on the poem "The New Ballet of Russia", which was written at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on 31 March 2022.

The performance is made possible with the support of Movement Research (USA) and Workshop Foundation (Hungary).