LET HER/HIM/IT BE – PULSE OF CHANGE – PARADISE BIRDS

Arina Andreychuk, Yana Reutova

17 November holds extraordinary significance in our country's history. It is the Day of Struggle for Freedom and Democracy, when we join students in reflecting on just how fragile freedom can be. One person's freedom ends where another's begins.

Yet freedom is not merely a matter of external circumstances. Inner freedom – and the search for one's own identity that comes with it – is an equally important issue today.

This evening at PONEC pays tribute to Ukraine and its fight for freedom and independence. It gives a voice to female artists who reflect on the present through their personal stories and experiences.

In her duet, Arina Andreychuk, a student at the Duncan Centre Conservatory, explores the need for both closeness and personal space.Yana Reutova and Alina Ostapets explore how their roots give them the strength and courage to be themselves. Their work draws on their experience of having to leave their homeland and find their feet in a new country.

In collaboration with Karolína Šnajdrová, Yana Reutova further investigates the body as a space where expectations, memory and personal experience intersect.

LET HER/HIM/IT BE

How many times have we wanted to let someone go, but instead held on just a little tighter?

Two people. One space. Constantly moving closer and pulling away. Sometimes they need each other, sometimes they get in each other’s way. A touch can mean intimacy, but it can also become a boundary we no longer want to have crossed.  

Let Her/Him/It Be is a duet about a relationship where it is not always clear whether we are moving towards each other or running away. About wanting someone close while still needing space for ourselves. About how sometimes the hardest thing is also the simplest: to let go and let be.

Arina Andreychuk is a dancer and a fourth-year student at the Duncan Conservatory in Prague. In her dance practice, she draws from various movement techniques and approaches, combining them with her own movement expression. She is interested in working with energy, dynamics, rhythm and emotion, as well as exploring new ways of expressing an idea or feeling through the body. Alongside her studies, she also teaches dance and works with children.

PULSE OF CHANGE

We spend our lives discovering who we are. Through what we try, what we choose, and what we allow ourselves to do our own way. New experiences change us; our roots give us confidence. And through it all, we learn to trust ourselves.

Pulse of Change grows out of the experience of forced displacement and explores how identity takes shape through encounters with new surroundings and other people. We bring memories, habits, and gestures into these encounters — sometimes quietly, sometimes with surprising force. Something familiar takes on a different meaning; something new unexpectedly finds its place in our own rhythm. What do we keep, what do we embrace, and where do we find our own way?

New possibilities also bring expectations. We try out different versions of ourselves, discovering which feel right. Listening to our own voice takes courage — as does making room for what is still emerging within us.

In this dance solo performed by Alina Ostapets, choreographed by Yana Reutova, with music by Milli Janatková, memory meets curiosity and a desire to explore our own possibilities. Our roots become an impulse to move, to begin again, and to find the courage to be ourselves. Each change can bring an unexpected encounter — with ourselves.

Yana Reutova is a Ukrainian choreographer, dancer and teacher based in Prague since 2022. Her works have been repeatedly selected for the Czech Dance Platform and TANEC PRAHA Festival. They also regularly tour venues and festivals across Europe and beyond. Supported by the EFFEA initiative, she presented her work in Italy, Brazil, Poland, Spain etc. In 2025, she was selected for the Visiting Artists programme at Dance Umbrella in London. In Prague, she combines artistic creation with dance education and community projects.

Milli Janatková is a musician, performer and visual artist. She brings together music, visual art and movement, working with singing, improvisation and music for theatre and dance. She has released four original albums and received Independent Music Awards. Her project To My Roots explores family stories and cultural memory. She collaborates with Ponec Theatre, TANEC PRAHA Festival and Múzy dětem.

Alina Ostapets is a Ukrainian dancer and choreographer from Donetsk. In 2025, she graduated in contemporary choreography from Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts. She also trained at the P.A.R.T.S. Summer School in Brussels and ImPulsTanz in Vienna. She co-founded KnowName Company and created New Nina. She works at the House of Actors theatre in Zaporizhzhia, where in 2026 she co-created and performs the dance solo Home Is Where the Factory Is.

PARADISE BIRDS

Falling without support, searching for solid ground. This original solo traces a journey from doubt and uncertainty towards self-acceptance. Through movement, vulnerability is revealed alongside the strength to carry on and find one's own path.

On the one hand, there is the desire to adapt and belong; on the other, the need to make one's own choices and set personal boundaries. This conflict gradually shapes the relationship with oneself. It is not about open confrontation or defiance, but about finding a way to remain true to oneself as old certainties begin to fade and new ones are yet to take shape.

The work reflects the experience of growing up, the loss of innocence and the acceptance of responsibility. In the face of uncertainty, fragility and sensitivity become a source of strength and balance.

Yana Reutova is a Ukrainian choreographer, dancer and teacher based in Prague since 2022. Her works have been repeatedly selected for the Czech Dance Platform and TANEC PRAHA Festival. They also regularly tour venues and festivals across Europe and beyond. Supported by the EFFEA initiative, she presented her work in Italy, Brazil, Poland, Spain etc. In 2025, she was selected for the Visiting Artists programme at Dance Umbrella in London. In Prague, she combines artistic creation with dance education and community projects.

Milli Janatková is a musician, performer and visual artist. She brings together music, visual art and movement, working with singing, improvisation and music for theatre and dance. She has released four original albums and received Independent Music Awards. Her project To My Roots explores family stories and cultural memory. She collaborates with Ponec Theatre, TANEC PRAHA Festival and Múzy dětem.