Andréa Stanislav's Surmatants - Mars Rising is an elegiacally visceral response to the COVID-19 pandemic in three acts — informed by Pittsburgh's Slavic immigrant labor history, and 13th century bubonic plague imagery — through a release of dance. Tenants of Russian Cosmism and transcendence are evoked through Jesse Gelaznik's musical compositions, paired with renowned choreographer Željko Jergan and John Harbist's dances performed by the Tamburitzans.