This Dance is Out of Joint

Zarina Zabrisky on dancing, proud kitsch 'shikarno' chic, and 'pokhuism' — the defiant hedonism of Odesa, a city that parties in the face of Russian aggression.

Photo: Zarina Zabrisky

“The best antiquarians, let me tell you, trace dancing back to the creation of the universe; it is coeval with that Eros who was the beginning of all things. In the dance of the heavenly bodies, in the complex involutions whereby the planets are brought into harmonious intercourse with the fixed stars, you have an example of that art in its infancy” 

                                            Lucian of Samosata, 2^nd century

Shame!

In war-torn Ukraine, a scandal raged. Amidst air raids and destruction, the southern seaport of Odesa was… dancing.

Sure, Odesites have danced weekends away on the main street, Derybasivska, all through this war, or full-scale invasion, as it is called here. Yet, a few rebellious teens and vivacious babushkas did not come close to the “orgy” foam discos and pool parties during recent shelling. Thong-clad models floating on oversized inflated flamingoes as Russian missiles whistled over their heads didn’t compute. A crowded nudist beach in a city filled with amputees seemed outrageous even for famously blasé, politically incorrect and middle-finger thrusting Odesa. War dance parties went beyond cognitive dissonance—it was an ethical dissonance, screamed multiple Odesa and national social media channels. “Shame!” “Traitors!” “Horror!”