Come to the Ponec Theatre to take in the atmosphere of Ukrainian Christmas.

Orthodox Christmas celebrations begin on January 6 according to the Julian calendar and last for two weeks. Many traditions are associated with them, such as decorating Christmas trees, building nativity scenes or baking cookies. Dancers from Ukraine prepared a special evening for children and adults for this occasion.
You can look forward to the interactive performance for children, Time of Childhood, inspired by Christmas customs and traditional games, supplemented by an art workshop, which will entertain child visitors during the second part of the program.
The subsequent production Together Alone will bring you closer to the ever-current Ukrainian theme – trauma, uncertainty and fear, which are an integral part of the lives of people who fled from their occupied homeland to a foreign country.

Childhood time (45 min)

An interactive dance performance for children inspired by Ukrainian Orthodox Christmas and traditional games. At the end of the show, children will be able to make their own "motanka" doll, which is traditionally made in Ukraine.

Yana about her performance: "Christmas is a time of miracles, belief in fairy tales, fulfilled wishes and fun. Every child looks forward to their miracle. Winter days bring us a lot of joy and fun, they bring the whole family together, where even adults can feel like children. Winter time brings us many interesting customs and games. In Ukraine, the main symbol of Christmas is the poinsettia, which brings happiness, joy and love to every household.”

Motanka - a doll was also made from old clothes. Women made it for luck, good health or marriage. Therefore, it is believed that the doll has powerful energy and protective abilities. Together with children, we will create a simple version of the motanka, which the children will then be able to decorate at home.

Following an intermission, there will be an art workshop for the children so that their parents can see the entire program. The workshop will be led by Olexandra Hontar, an Ukrainian artist living in Prague for a long time. She speaks Ukrainian and Russian as well as Czech.

Together Alone (25 min)

Chornomorsk, Odesa, Lviv, Kryvyi Rih, Zaporizhia... cities on the map of Ukraine that the dancers left in search of safety in the EU after the war broke out. Their stories are different, but they have one thing in common: they all fled from an occupied country and are confronted daily with the trauma, uncertainty and fear that comes with being a refugee in a foreign land.
Five female Ukrainian dancers, torn from their homes, are here and now. Each for herself and yet together. They are kept above water by their creativity, the ability to create and the opportunity to find a new community – an artistic family.
At the same time, Together Alone brings closer the work of other Ukrainian artists. The production is inspired by Anton Ovchinnikov's verses written during the war in Kyiv and is accompanied by the music of the Canadian-based Ukrainian radical anti-Putin band Balaklava Blues. Tomáš Kerle took care of fine-tuning the sound atmosphere.