UA Contemporary Dance Platform \ Database of Performances \ The Way From/To
RITA LIRA
Photo: Donatas Ališauakas, Miciek Rukasz
DESCRIPTION:
Solo performance reflecting the experiences of Ukrainian people since February 24
“Is there an instruction on how to abandon your whole life and leave? Suddenly. How to pack a suitcase when you don't know where and how long you are going for. Because you are not going TO, but FROM”._________________________________
Director and performer, Rita Lira, who was forced to move from Ukraine, created a performance based on:
Interviews Rita took interviews from real people who are from or have been to the deoccupied territories after the invasion of russian soldiers.
MusicThe majority of the sounds for this performance are documentary recordings.Rita recorded on her phone almost everything that happened around her during her stay in Ukraine in the first days of the invasion.
All music for this performance was created without a music studio and with limited use of professional equipment.Composer Mariana Savchenko recorded vocals for a choir in a hotel bathroom in Taipei. Singer Pavlo Moskalenko recorded his vocals on a telephone recorder in Ukraine.
Mariana Savchenko: "For me, the main challenge was that I could not see the movements and had to work intuitively."
MovementThe performer conveys the feeling from the first emotions of absurdity, confusion and horror through pain and loss to the present strength, pride and insurmountable struggle for life, peace and freedom!
The movement of the performance is always in a free form, which makes each showing of this performance unique.
Rita: "I decided not to work with exact choreography because this performance is not about beautiful dance. This is a real story of real people, and for me only improvisation at the moment of each part can create and convey my true emotions".
TEAM:Director and performer:
Rita Lira
Сomposer, sound producer: Mariana Savchenko
Mastering: Viacheslav Shevchenko
Video editor: Pavlo Lykholat
Lighting designer: Helena Caixeta
Illustration for poster: Oleksiy Samovarov
Interviewees:
Alyona Kazanska
Anton Topchiy
Inna Demkovych
Valera Simonchuk
Maksym Kotskyi
MUSIC:«Молитва за Україну» ("Prayer for Ukraine")Church of the Holy Martyr Ludmila of Bohemia church choir, Orthodox Church of Ukraine
Director: Pavlyuk Oleksandr
«Через поле широкеє» ("Through the wide field")
Arrangement for choir: Pavlyuk Oleksandr
Soprano: Mariana Savchenko
First and second tenor: Pavlo Moskalenko
Baritone and bass: Oleksii Fishchuk
DURATION:short version — 25 minlong version — 55 min
PREMIERE:September 2022Paris, France
SUPPORTED BY:La Briqueterie – CDCN du Val de Marne, ParisCité Internationale des Arts, ParisMille Plateaux – Centre Chorégraphique National La RochelleCentre Intermondes, La RochelleUA Contemporary Dance Platform
TRAILER:
Rita studied contemporary dance in Kyiv. In her work, she combines contemporary dance, street dance styles, visual and documentary art. Her artistic work is closely connected with theory and reflections on the theme of mental traps, as well as reflections on the experiences of war and displacement. Rita’s performances were presented in France, Lituania, Romania, Spain, Czech Republic, Poland and Ukraine. She is also a member of the UA Contemporary Dance Platform. In 2022 Rita was forced to leave Ukraine. She moved to Paris, where she spent a year on a residency at Cité Internationale des Arts. Here she created and presented her performances "The Way from/to" and "The Trap."
She has recently completed the Hérodote education program at the Beaux-Arts de Paris during the 2023-2024 academic year. Currently she is a part of the international project “Moving Borders” organized by Aerowaves (Partners: Tanec Praha Festival, Czech Republic; Arte Sella, Italy; La Briqueterie, France).
CONTACTS:e-mail: moc.liamg%40kszls.atir+380 96 44 777 50+33 7 48 31 82 31
OTHER WORKS:
THE TRAPGRAYED OUT
© UA CONTEMPORARY DANCE PLATFORM
email: moc.liamg%40mroftalp.ecnad.au