HO­PAK | Reyk­javík Dance Fest­ival

Hopak by Olga Dukhovna will be performed in Hörpuhorn in Harpa on Sunday, November 16 at 5pm. The event is part of Reykjavík Dance Festival.

The event is free and everybody welcome.

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Since 2022, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been accompanied by a cultural conflict, aimed at eradicating any Ukrainian identity. Russia’s official discourse insists that a distinctly Ukrainian culture does not exist. 

The Hopak project is based on research into traditional Ukrainian dances. Distinguishing Ukrainian dances from Russian ones is not easy, due to centuries of forced cultural assimilation, territorial expansion, repression and linguistic oppression. What would these dances look like today if they had been able to develop freely? What would they resemble if they had not been stifled and dominated?

Hopak is a play between historical heritage and a minimalist approach, reducing each dance to its starting point. From there, it creates new ones. And it is possible that these waves, these constant back-and-forths between past and future, might open the way to metaphors, imagination, or unexpected meanings.

Olga Dukhovna recycles dance the way others recycle objects: she collects, transforms, diverts. Born in Ukraine and trained in Brussels (P.A.R.T.S.) and Angers (CNDC), she fuses forgotten folklore with contemporary dance, embracing improbable collisions. Her works (Korowod, Hopak, Crawl) deconstruct traditional dances to reveal their political charge, while her soloSwan Lake, crafted in her room during lockdown, gained international recognition. She is now pursuing research on the transmission and memory of movement.

Production: C.A.M.P
Co-production Théâtre Louis Aragon – National Stage for Art & Creation (Tremblay-en-France), Mille Plateaux - CCN La Rochelle, Le Triangle – Cité de la Danse (Rennes), Chorège – CDCN Falaise Normandie, Rencontres Internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis, La Maison CDCN Uzès, Le Petit Écho de la Mode.

With the support of Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, Théâtre de Vanves and Le Triangle – Cité de la Danse in Rennes. Thanks to CCNRB – Collectif FAIR-E for providing studio space.

HOPAK is part of R.O.M (Residencies On the Move) at the invitation of le joli collectif – Théâtre l’Aire Libre in France. R.O.M is supported by the European Union through the Creative Europe programme, as well as by the Conseil des arts de Montréal. The programming of this piece is supported by the Institut Français.

https://residenciesonthemove.eu/