Olonkhosut

‘Olonkhosut’ (Yakut. олоҥхоһут) stands for a storyteller, performer of the Yakut heroic epic Olonkho. Olonkhosut is a mono opera in the Yakut language for a vocalist, an ensemble, and a system of manual projections. The basis of the production is the cosmogony and philosophy of Olonkho, according to which three worlds — the world of light, the world of human, and the world of destruction — exist simultaneously inside each person.

The central image of the performance is the white sun. This is the only source of light in the production uniting performers and the audience in one space: a system of manual projections creates a sense of reality, gradually turning from a creative energy into a destructive force.

Combining the Olonkho tradition, modern music, documentary recordings of storytellers, and performative manipulation of the projection, the production explores the delicate balance between light and darkness, without which the world inevitably plunges to darkness.