Freediver Recreates ‘Wednesday’s Iconic Dance Underwater

Artistic Swimmer Recreates Wednesday’s Iconic Dance Routine Underwater

Screenshots of video showing artistic swimmer recreating the "Wednesday" dance

Photo: Screenshot from Instagram

Netflix’s Wednesday became an instant hit when it dropped back in November 2022. While it captured the public's attention as a whole, a particular moment was so memorable that it took on a life of its own: the iconic Wednesday dance from the fourth episode. The quirky choreography went to inspire thousands of tributes and versions across multiple mediums, from a cosplayer nailing the dance to a figure skater presenting a Wednesday-inspired routine on ice. Now, an even more impressive recreation has caught our eye. Unlike the rest we've seen, this one takes place underwater.

Kristina Makushenko is a Miami-based freediver and underwater dancer. While most people associate these talents with synchronized swimming, Makushenko goes beyond, pushing the creative possibilities of choreography below the surface. After posting some seriously impressive routines, her fans called for her to recreate the Wednesday dance. The talented dancer went along with it, displaying her creativity and making the most out of this unique environment in a mesmerizing video. To make it easier for her followers to compare the results, the dancer posted her performance right under a clip of the original.

Since dancing underwater makes movements more fluid than they are on land, Makushenko's choreography looks even more dramatic and volatile than the original. Moreover, the gravity-defying quality of her setting allows the dancer to go deeper and bigger in the parts in which the character's knees are locked. The original dance was already quite theatrical, yet the underwater version goes even further.

Despite the clear abilities of Makushenko to recreate and push the choreography to the limit, the water can sometimes play against her. “This dress was [too] floaty, so I had some trouble moving in it,” she wrote on Instagram. The video features some cuts when the skirt of the dress has lost its shape so much so that it no longer resembles the one worn by Wednesday Addams. After having to stop several times to put it back down and adapting to a different pool than the one she regularly practices at, the dancer reported that it took her four hours to film this choreography.

Makushenko's effort definitely paid off. Not only is her performance impressive, but it quickly went viral and gained her a lot of praise. People in the comments not only compared her to a mermaid, but also praised her ability to move around in heels underwater, reminding others that everything done in a pool takes a lot more effort.

This is far from the only choreography Makushenko has tackled. She also offered her take on Rihanna's Super Bowl performance, as well recreating the creepy doll dance of M3GAN. On top of that, she has also recorded some mind-bending videos, like one in which she seems to walk up an invisible staircase.

To stay up to date with Mkusgeko and her underwater dancing, you can follow her on Instagram and TikTok.