Description: Dark tale is a performative action which is magical and mundane at the same time, a fictional situation of presence for two performers. The basis is the study of the shadow as a concept — a category of an unpleasant and invisible to the eye condition. Starting with an associative map, visual images, through analyzing your shadow qualities, carefully hidden from the society, the authors of the project bring everything they have developed into the movement score, thus redefining the characteristics initially negatively perceived, and endowing them with humanity, allowing their existence, revealing their variability and presentation to the outside. Within the project, the shadow is defined as an artistic image of the invisible but felt; it is characterized by such features as implicit manifestation, specificity, essence. It is more of the content than the form: a complex energetic category that can set the direction of movement.
- Video, 24 min
- Composer: Alex Havran
- Voice-over by Masha Dugina
- Hair styling by Gevorg Agamalyan
- Shot, edited and sound recorded by kykyvideo
Special thanks to Garage Museum Studios and Ivan Isaev and Irina Sopina
Elza Abdulkhakova Elza Abdulkhakova (b. 1990) is an artist and curator working at the intersection of contemporary dance, performance, and video art. Based in St Petersburg, her practice explores corporeality, movement, and the performative potential of the body in both solo and collaborative projects. Abdulkhakova has worked with key cultural institutions in Russia, including the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, V-A-C Foundation, and the N.A. Nekrasov Library. Her artistic research extends into curatorial initiatives and experimental laboratories focused on movement and identity.
Since 2020, Abdulkhakova has collaborated with artist Herman Stroganov as part of the Abdulkhakova Stroganov Dance Company (ASDC), investigating the intersection of dance and video. She is also a member of forbidden body language (since 2021) and tridevyat’, a St. Petersburg-based artistic collective (since 2024). In her choreographic and performative projects, she engages with various artistic mediums, creating dance installations, video works, and site-specific performances.
Her educational background includes studies at the IDC Professional Online Program (St. Petersburg), the New Dance Academy of Olga Tsvetkova, and the Institute of Contemporary Art (Moscow). Additionally, she has completed programs at the Higher School of Economics (Moscow) in collaboration with Goldsmiths, University of London, the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, and St. Petersburg State University.
