A hopak melody in the drop: DOROFEEVA made her English-language debut and brought the Virsky ensemble into the video
The artist hummed the hopak melody right while they were working on the drop.
DOROFEEVA has presented the video for ‘Feel the Heat’ — her English-language debut. It was directed by Ruslan Makhov.
The outlet Liroom reported it.
“When we were working on the track and got to the drop, a melody people dance the hopak to suddenly started playing in my head — the way I remembered it. I hummed it, and my co-writer Misha Katsurin turned the idea into a distinct sound. At that moment we understood we had found exactly what we were looking for: a way to rethink the Ukrainian cultural code in the language of modern pop,” the artist said.
What is shown on screen
The video’s main mission is to show Ukraine to a potential English-speaking audience. A rushnyk, a necklace and a woven lizhnyk appear as symbols of memory, beauty and the link between past and present, while living tradition is embodied by dancers of the Pavlo Virsky Ensemble.
Then the team went to the source itself.
“After that we put on a video of the legendary Virsky ensemble: the strength, the energy and the emotion — everything that makes the hopak so unique lives in every one of their movements,” the artist added.
Alongside the traditional images are entirely contemporary ones: a veteran with a bionic prosthesis as a symbol of the experience of war and transformation, and a female character in a masculine silhouette, a nod to the women who now hold others up. The team worked on the ethnographic layer with folklorist Yaryna Sizyk.
Ukrainian designers Ruslan Baginskiy and Lilia Litkovska took part in the shoot, as did the brands TTSWTRS, Gushka and Gudu.
The choreography is by Maryna Kushchova, who has previously worked with Rosalía, Lenny Kravitz and Lady Gaga. The English lyrics were written by American songwriters Jamison Fox and Warryn Runnels, and the mix was done by two-time Grammy winner Ken Lewis.
We reported earlier on the single ‘Japan’, which the artist released after a viral challenge.
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