Supplemental Information: Episode 9
Swan Lake: How the Classical Ballet Became a Political Mosh
Sasha Drozzina (Ohio State University)
Release Date: Thursday, June 18, 2026
Production Credits
Team Lead: Jennifer Weaver
Production Lead: Mark Micchelli
Peer Reviewers: Ellen Bakulina and Orit Hilewicz
Music Credits
SMT-Pod Theme Music: Maria Tartaglia
Closing Music: Yike Zhang
Bio: Sasha Drozzina is an Assistant Professor of Music Theory at the Ohio State School of Music. She holds a PhD in Music Theory from Louisiana State University. Her dissertation entitled “Schnittke, Gubaidulina, and Pärt: Religion and Spirituality during the Late Thaw and Early Perestroika,” contextualizes selected religious and spiritual works within the 1970s and 1980s in the Soviet Union. She received her MA in Music Theory and BMus (Piano Major, History and Theory Specialization) from the University of Toronto. Sasha served as the Chair of the Russian and Soviet Music Interest Group at the Society for Music Theory between 2023–2026.
Keywords: Tchaikovsky, Noize MC, Russian popular music, protest songs, hypertextuality