The dance film follows Subject 71, a character whose life and dreams are controlled by The Monitor, a narcissistic and manipulative masked being. Subject 71 must appease The Monitor because her existence depends on it.
The themes of monolith represent the shared experiences women, especially female artists, have with being expected to obey individuals with power. The film explores what happens when women live their lives for other people.
“The expectation, the hierarchy and the manipulation that I experienced in those spaces as a female, queer, mixed-race person, were the themes I wanted to explore through this work,” says Kushniruk.
Kushniruk drew inspiration from her own experiences as an artist and professional dancer, as well as her passion for science fiction. She stars in the solo film alongside an animated character created by animator Kristen Innes Stambolic. monolith is the largest project Kushniruk has worked on and eight collaborators were included on the project.
monolith will premiere on Mile Zero Dance’s Website on April 16 at 7 p.m. and April 17 at 2 p.m. Tickets are available online and are pay-what-you-can with a suggested price of $15 to support programming.
