ELINA KULIKOVA / C^ie CHAMP BRÛLÉ

After moving to Europe in 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine, Elina Kulikova (age 29) and Dima Efremov (age 24) decided to speak for themselves as “witnesses and unwilling accomplices” to a conflict they never wanted. Using a hybrid form of concert, narration, and tableau vivant, they manage to convey how the war has derailed people’s lives, infiltrated their dreams, and invaded their bodies. Each part is structured around a different musical genre: opera recital, traditional folk songs, and an electro-pop concert. A screen hung in the background becomes the page for a narration of interwoven personal stories, documented testimonials, and thoughts nurtured by a wide range of sources, from Alexander Pushkin to Jonathan Littell and contemporary media. Through this remarkable combination of raw speech and restraint, bluntness and softness, Kulikova and Efremov address a number of personal and political issues (violence, homophobia, patriarchy, guilt, shame, memory, exile, and resistance, among others) to construct, step by step, a deeply moving performance that is at times devastating, but which also expresses a great sense of hope.