DN alum Dasha Gushchina returns to our pages with her vibrantly choreographed music video for Musia Totibadze’s Goodbye. The video begins with a young woman, played by Liza Yankovskaya, arriving at a bar and settling into an intense drinking session. After she throws back shot after shot she finds herself reaching a point where she can’t contain her emotions anymore, erupting into an expressive dance that is both lively and cathartic. It’s a really gorgeous video, shot in a tight aspect ratio that brings you into Liza’s character’s frustrated headspace before giving her the space to let loose. DN catches up with Gushchina, Yankovskaya and Cinematographer Oleg Kolsky below, where they break down the process of collaboration with Musia Totibadze, the casting of Liza, and the creative choreographic decision to concentrate on the character’s emotional expression as opposed to relying on the rhythm of the song to convey its story of loneliness.

When, and how, did your collaboration with Musia Totibadze on this music video begin?

Dasha Gushchina: We met Musya by chance. I simply wrote to her that my acquaintance had some film lying around in the fridge and asked if she wanted to shoot something. She replied that she was just about to message me… We thought it was fate, and since then we haven’t parted ways.

What was it about the setting of a bar that motivated you to stage the video in one?

DG: I like the romance of bars. Lately, I’ve realized that these kinds of establishments have a certain aftertaste of unhappy souls. It seemed familiar to me, both the place and the feeling, and I realized that this was exactly where I could tell a story about loneliness. It will be honest, without exaggeration, as if it’s just one day in a life.

It seemed familiar to me, both the place and the feeling, and I realized that this was exactly where I could tell a story about loneliness.

What was it about Liza Yankovskaya that drew you to her to play this lonely central character, who seeks to liberate herself initially through drinking but then dance?

DG: Initially, when I wrote this story, I did it on pure emotion, without any song, just a sketch I planned to shoot someday. Later, Musya appeared and said, “We need to shoot a music video for Proshchay (Goodbye).” I told her I’d been carrying around an idea for a while that seemed perfect. Then Musya suggested reaching out to Liza. In my mind, the main character needed to have a palpable inner core, strength, so that her actions wouldn’t invite pity but would spark interest instead. This let the twist work: the serious girl dances from the depths of her sorrow and loneliness, in a way that’s both humorous and touching, yet no one notices her pain. And she doesn’t need them to. Liza handled it perfectly. I believe it’s exactly her kind of role. When I arrived at the first rehearsal, I was amazed by how everything suited her, from the choreography to the costume. So why am I saying all this? We were really lucky it was Liza as if nobody else could have been in her place.

The choreography is a wonderful mixture of expressive gestures and lively movements, how did you develop it?

DG: We thought it would be great if Liza danced out of sync with the actual music. So the Choreographer Nastya Vyadro rehearsed with her to cheerful tracks so the mood would clash with the song. This is the kind of music video where the music didn’t dictate the editing rhythm or anything else. Here, Liza led the way, and I think it worked brilliantly.

Liza, how much room did you have to play or express within the choreography?

Liza Yankovskaya: We had several rehearsals with Nastya over Zoom and in person. The rehearsal spaces were four times larger than the filming location. But it was interesting to explore how to express what we found in freedom within a narrow bar. This really serves the idea of liberating the character. In the end, there are rehearsed pieces in the music video but also improvisational ones, because Dasha didn’t always turn off the camera on time, for which I thank her.

We thought it would be great if Liza danced out of sync with the actual music.

I really liked the mirroring between the first and final shots, how did you come up with those? Were they envisioned from the start?

DG: It’s pure improvisation. We just thought it would be nice to show that this isn’t the end, that she’s still dancing, and that the pain hasn’t gone away. I called this scene “the last tear”, haha!

Oleg, the video looks stunning and has a distinctive visual style with its tight aspect ratio, what equipment did you shoot on? And what influenced the look of the video in general?

Oleg Kolsky: Usually, I like a rather contrasting image. But at the preparation stage, we were already thinking about how to dilute it a little, to make it different from usual. We shot with the Alexa 35 and my now-favorite Cooke Panchro optics. I tried to lay down the development behind the windows and compensated for it with internal light sources, but very delicately and naturally, barely perceptible. We experimented with color correction and settled on what you can see now. For us, this was not a standard solution, and I was very pleased with the image we got.

Dasha, what’s next for your filmmaking?

DG: Nine minute music videos are great, but I’m finally planning to write a short film. I don’t know whether it’ll include dancing or not, but I’ve outgrown the music video format, so I hope that soon we’ll be talking about my short film.

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