Ship

A nocturnal dance journey across generations, memory, and resistance

Ship is a gentle documentary portrait centred on Algirdas Stravinskas, a key figure in Lithuanian choreography during the Soviet period and a pioneer of breakdance in the country. His life story unfolds as one shaped by detours rather than conformity. As a choreographer, Stravinskas influenced an entire generation of dancers for whom movement and performance became a way to cope with and quietly resist the constraints of the communist regime. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, his refusal to follow dominant paths continued, this time expressed through a rejection of competitiveness and self serving ambition within contemporary cultural life.

Today, Stravinskas lives in social housing, surrounded by the calm of his routines and addictions, yet his devotion to music, dance, and celebration remains intact. The film is set during a one night cruise organised to mark his birthday, which becomes a meeting place for dancers of different ages, styles, and life experiences. A contemporary street dance troupe prepares a performance in his honour, transforming the celebration into a living dialogue between generations.

The documentary weaves together archival footage of Stravinskas and his collective performing under television spotlights in the late Soviet period with present day images of dancers moving under his guidance against the night panoramas of a modern city. The ship itself becomes a poetic metaphor for the contemporary world, drifting between memory and reality, permanence and transience. Through this floating space, Ship reflects on suppressed histories, enduring creativity, and a love of beauty that transcends time and social circumstance.