The feature documentary TO DANCE IS TO RESIST, directed by filmmaker and artist Julian Lautenbacher, covers how in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, a world of underground raves, performers, and artists persists despite the war.

The film spans from February 24th, 2022, the first day of Russia’s invasion of the former soviet country, until present and with Jay and Vol’demar, a queer couple of professional dancers, as the subjects. Dance and the uniting experience created by it is – for Jay, Vol and their circle of artists – a form of resisting the precarious and threatening living conditions in Ukraine. Identity, same-sex relationships, and different concepts of freedom could all feel unimportant in the face of conflict, but they come through and accompany Lautenbacher’s fresh reflection on the war.

The film stays close to Jay and Vol’s lives. A sense of intimacy and trust is developed by shots in their apartment of them performing the daily activities of studying a new language or choreography, cleaning the bathroom, and choosing an outfit. Inhabiting their most intimate spaces of their domesticity and privacy, such as their bathroom and bedroom, opens a window into Jay and Vol’s fears, love, and devotion to dance. Shots where they lay opposite each other in an empty bathtub are a recurrent visual symbol of sheltering, solidarity, and strength in their companionship. The strength of their union is also a commentary on Ukraine’s unfavourable laws about same-sex relationships.

“Lautenbacher [shows] bravery in choosing queer identity and dance as his documentary’s expression of resistance to the Russian invasion.”

Aside from their home, clubs and dance rehearsals are equally important locations where Jay and Vol’s art comes to life. Two worlds – day and night, home and nightclubs – weave and collide under the sound of air raid sirens and techno music. The highly theatrical and expressive choreographies they perform acquire a transcendental sentiment in the political and social circumstances of wartime Ukraine. Jay and Vol’s performances and movements are not only a professional expression but also a form of expressing the weight, restrictions, and despair of a country at war. Lautenbacher also shows bravery in choosing queer identity and dance as his documentary’s expression of resistance to the Russian invasion.

“Shots where [Jay and Vol] lay opposite each other in an empty bathtub are a recurrent visual symbol of sheltering, solidarity, and strength in their companionship.”

TO DANCE IS TO RESIST has the quality and texture of a long, paced, visual poem. The art of dance and music are the central channels. Blue and white fresnel lights colour the film’s opening shot, with athletic bodies moving to an increasingly pumping sound. The smoke, immersive club environment, and the dancers who appear angels in the night seem to evoke the liminal atmosphere of 14th-century Italian epic poem the Divine Comedy. The overlapping realities of Kyiv’s nightlife and the bombs falling on the Ukrainian’s sky create a metaphorical echo of Dante’s cantiche. Lautenbacher praises and supports Ukrainians’ fight by praising the stories and messages dancing bodies painted in blue, red, or metal tones transmit. The performers are like messengers.

Lautenbacher creates a feeling of agony and liberty when filming his subjects’ performances, utilising frequent close-ups, explosive scores, and dramatic scenarios. In an abandoned and empty building, Jay and Vol wear a black swan make up and move in cutting lines, intricate shapes, and adopt an eagle-like gaze. The walls seem unable to contain the strength of the dancers. These contrasting settings and moods accompanied by a slow pace and conversations allow the choreographies and the artists’ messages to land with an explosion; one of visual, emotive and physical resistance. The “underground” comes to the surface, symbolising protection from the war but also a path to freedom and unity. In this way, TO DANCE IS TO RESIST has echoes of Jennie Livingston’s 1990 documentary PARIS IS BURNING, where a drag ballroom becomes a place to freely be oneself.

TO DANCE IS TO RESIST is very different from the other chronicles of the war, like 20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL, but it’s equally informative and necessary. TO DANCE IS TO RESIST tells how a group of Ukrainians artists use dance to stay alive, sane, hopeful, and strong after so many years of war. The art produced by communities in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine should be seen and responded to itself.