PROJECT DETAILS
CHOREOGRAPHER: Roman Mykyta
COMPOSER: Viktor Kosenko
PREMIERE: September 5, 2026 | Baltimore Ukrainian Festival, Baltimore, MD | Performed by Дух Танцю – Spirit of the Dance Ukrainian Folk Ballet
CAST: 1 Woman, 1 Man
RUN TIME: 3 minutes
SYNOPSIS:
Old World Landowners is a choreographic miniature inspired by Mykola Hohol’s beloved story of the same name. Reimagining the elderly couple at its heart through a lens of tenderness and memory, the work begins in the quiet stillness of old age before following the pair as they recall their youth, courtship, and the enduring affection that shaped their lives together.
As memory gently overtakes the present, the couple transforms into their younger selves, unfolding into a lyrical pas de deux that reflects the warmth, innocence, and quiet joy of a love carried across a lifetime. Balancing nostalgia with gentle humanity, the miniature offers a poetic meditation on aging, devotion, and the traces of youth that remain within us long after time has passed.
MYKOLA HOHOL
Mykola Hohol remains one of the most influential writers born in Ukraine. While celebrated for satire and fantastical tales, Old World Landowners reveals another side of his writing: a quiet portrait of enduring love and the passage of time.
BACKGROUND & INSPIRATION
MEMORY AS CHOREOGRAPHY
Rather than presenting the story literally, the choreography uses memory as its dramatic framework. The elderly couple does not simply remember the past — they gradually become their younger selves.
LOVE ACROSS A LIFETIME
The miniature reflects on the enduring nature of companionship, suggesting that love is measured by a lifetime of shared experience and the quiet persistence of memory.