Russian Ballet Dancer Sergei Polunin Beautifully Slays Hozier’s ‘Take Me To Church’ [Video]

Russian ballet dancer Sergei Polunin performs a stunning visual interpretation of Hozier’s “Take Me To Church,” and it’s chillingly beautiful.

In a sunlit white room, the 25-year-old former British Royal Ballet principal dancer took over the floor like a man possessed in a series of pirouettes, sautés and tombés – creating a somewhat dark and spiritual theme with Hozier’s bluesy hit as the milieu.

Performing in nude tights and a cluster of tattoos, the four-minute video showcases Polunin’s raw and expressive skills, which perfectly parallels the song’s gripping catharsis.

Polunin trained at a gymnastics academy from the age of four to eight, before moving onto the Kyiv State Choreographic Institute and joining the British Royal Ballet School at 13.

Notoriously tricky to work with and known as the “bad boy” of ballet, Polunin is currently a principal dancer with Moscow’s Stanislavsky Music Theatre and Russia’s Novosibirsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre.

The atmospheric video was directed by David LaChapelle with choreography by Jade Hale-Christofi.