As the Lviv National Opera marks its 125th anniversary, the company is preparing to unveil a striking new production for admirers of contemporary Ukrainian art: the world premiere of Mavka, a ballet-fairytale set to music by acclaimed composer Viktoriia Poliova and inspired by Lesia Ukrainka’s classic drama The Forest Song. The premiere will take place in Lviv on Nov. 28, 29, and 30. Kyiv Post met with the creative team behind the production.
The ballet brings together a constellation of prominent artists: music by Viktoriia Poliova; libretto and direction by Vasyl Vovkun; choreography by Artem Shoshyn; scenography by Arvydas Buinauskas of Lithuania; and costumes by Natalia Mishchenko. The production is conducted by Maestro Volodymyr Sirenko.
Born in the midst of full-scale war, Mavka stands apart from all previous stage interpretations of Ukrainka’s literary masterpiece – an allegorical story about the encounter between human beings and forest spirits, centered on the love between the young musician Lukash and the ethereal Mavka, and enriched with reflections on freedom, creativity, and spiritual beauty.
“Fear of repetition is perhaps the essence of theater,” says the General Director and Artistic Director of the Lviv National Opera Vasyl Vovkun. “Lviv Opera constantly seeks new concepts, new stylistics, new forms. Our Mavka explores the spiritual heights a human being can reach despite hardship and danger – to be able to say: ‘I hold in my heart that which does not die.’ Our aim was not to simply stage the well-known narrative, but to crystallize, through choreography, its core idea: love as a divine gift. We set aside the mundane and the material. This re-imagining found its unique embodiment in in Viktoriia Poliova’s unmistakable music, Arvydas Buinauskas’s scenography, and, naturally, in Artem Shoshyn’s choreography.”
Artem Shoshyn – a soloist of Kyiv Modern-Ballet and one of Ukraine’s most sought-after young choreographers – emphasizes that the heart of the ballet is Mavka herself. “For me, the essence of Mavka is a deeply emotional, physical narrative of the heroine,” he says. “We are working with Viktoriia Poliova’s extraordinary score. The first time I heard it, I literally lost my breath. The music is like an exposed string. For the dancers – for the corps de ballet, the soloists, and for me personally – it is a tremendous challenge to convey the sincerity and philosophical depth of this musical fabric.”
As the composer Viktoriia Poliova herself noted, Mavka is more than a character; it is an archetype of Ukraine itself. “When music is born in the epicenter of tragedy, it cannot be merely an artistic exercise,” she says. “It is my personal act of resistance against oblivion. I poured into Mavka all my longing for life. Yes, this is music that knows what war is. It carries within it the pain, and the quiet vows we make during air raids – to live, to witness, to create. But it is also the attempt to construct an inner world governed by a different logic: the logic of harmony. Mavka is my way of saying that, despite everything, I try to express beauty. My work is about the indescribable beauty of life.”
One of the production’s key collaborators is Lithuanian lighting designer and scenographer Arvydas Buinauskas, who has now worked on three productions at the Lviv Opera. Buinauskas has become known for his bold visual imagination. “Lviv feels like a second home to me,” he says. “It’s a privilege to create here with close friends and colleagues. Working on Mavka brought many challenges – technical issues, stage preparations, and more – but each challenge opened new doors. I tried to re-imagine familiar elements and present them in unexpected ways. The forest, for example: I discovered a new structure for it, a new form. And the needle, an important symbol in the scenography, invites every viewer to interpret it differently.”
Mavka is the fourth ballet created at the Lviv National Opera during the full-scale war, part of the company’s ambitious “Ukrainian Breakthrough” program. In 2022 the theater premiered its contemporary ballet about philosopher Hryhoriy Skovoroda, Know Yourself, marking his 300th anniversary. In 2023 came Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (the ballet inspired by Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky’s iconic Ukrainian modernist novella exploring love, nature, and the clash between human passion and ancient mountain traditions) and in spring 2025 the young choreographer Kateryna Kurman premiered Solaris, a ballet interpretation of Stanisław Lem’s iconic sci-fi novel.
Now, with the arrival of Mavka, the cycle continues.
“We are taking important steps not only for Ukrainian ballet, but truly for world ballet,” says Vasyl Vovkun. “When Western critics visit us, they often remark that European ballet has become stagnant, trapped in tradition – while we, Ukrainians, in such a short and difficult time, are creating bold, powerful new productions. I sincerely hope we overcome our nostalgia for The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. We have material that can not only compete, but rise to the highest cultural level – material that Europe and the world, I am convinced, will soon turn to with great interest.”