S1 E12 Swan Song

"We knew something was happening when we saw those swans dancing".  You may have noticed the images of dancing swans and wondered what all of this was about.  Story, imagery and symbolism can be a powerful tool to transmit messages without saying anything at all.  We talk about the story of the ballet of Swan Lake, how it was used to buy time and distract in the context of regime change, the symbolism and imagery and the story transmitting information from a totalitarian regime to today, where these images and performances are transformed into those of protest.  Story and symbolism can be a powerful way to transmit information in the context of change as we are seeing today.

​Fully captioned videos are available on YouTube


References: 
https://hazlitt.net/feature/portentous-composition-swan-lakes-place-soviet-politics

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2014/05/01/ukrainian-ballerinas-turn-swan-lake-into-subversive-anti-putin-performance-a34907