Sergei Polunin's Satori: A Dance of Rebirth and Turmoil

Ukrainian dancer Sergei Polunin, once dubbed 'the new Nureyev,' premiered his first choreographic work 'Satori' in Italy, part of his Project Polunin. The performance, staged at Teatro Regio di Parma and Teatro Comunale Luciano Pavarotti di Modena for 'Modenadanza,' featured dancers from the Bolshoi, Stanislavskiy Theatre, and Kremlin Ballet, alongside Natalia Osipova (replaced by Elena Solomianko in Modena). The program included 'First Solo' by Andrey Kaydanovskiy and 'Scriabiniana' by Kasyan Goleizovsky, a 1962 piece revived by Polunin. 'Satori,' meaning 'sudden awakening' in Japanese Buddhism, uses sets by David LaChapelle and music by Lorenz Dangel to depict Polunin's personal journey from turmoil to enlightenment. The dancer, born in Kherson in 1989, trained at Kiev's State Choreographic School and the Royal Ballet School in London, becoming the Royal Ballet's youngest principal dancer in 2010. He abruptly left the company, later rebuilding his career in Russia under Igor Zelensky. His viral 2015 video 'Take Me to Church' (directed by David LaChapelle, choreographed by Jade Hale-Christofi) has over 22 million YouTube views. The documentary 'Dancer' by Steven Cantor chronicles his life. Polunin has also acted in films including Kenneth Branagh's 'Murder on the Orient Express,' 'Red Sparrow,' 'The White Crow' (as Yuri Soloviev), and 'The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.'