The end of February will once again be marked by the remembrance of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. It is almost unimaginable that four years have passed since the brave country began resisting the assault of an aggressor. From the very outset, Divadlo Ponec joined efforts to support refugees and has consistently provided targeted support to Ukrainian artists who fled the war to EU countries, as well as to those who remained in the war-stricken country.

In 2024–2025, we were partners in the research project Moving Borders, supported by the Creative Europe programme, through which we connected with nearly thirty artists working across various parts of Europe. We are now building on this collaboration through further concrete initiatives, one of which is the project Paradise Birds, bringing together artists from Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Brazil and Bulgaria over the past two years. In its final phase, Yana Reutova’s solo Paradise Birds is being created; its public premiere will open our ceremonial evening in tribute to Ukraine. The full-length performance of the same title will be presented by the TANEC PRAHA festival on 22 June.

The second part of the evening will feature films created during the war directly in Ukraine, in Kyiv and Kharkiv, where many talented artists continue their work. The first film features concept author and choreographer Kateryna Kuznetsova together with Olesia Glinka; the second was created by Julia Gryshyna, already known to audiences of the TANEC PRAHA festival and the Moving Borders project.

A moderated discussion with the artists will conclude the evening; further guests from the Czech Republic and Ukraine will also be invited.

Paradise birds

This authorial solo balances on the edge of inner conflict, unfolding as an internal journey through doubt, resistance and acceptance. The body speaks gently, at times with fragility, and within this vulnerability a deep, quiet strength gradually reveals itself. Movement oscillates between adaptation and choice, between the need for connection and the necessity of defining one’s own boundaries. In these transitions, tension emerges – not as struggle, but as a process of awareness.

The figure does not fight openly, yet neither does she disappear. Her strength lies in her capacity to listen to herself and to continue forward, even when the direction is not entirely clear. Gentleness here does not become weakness, but a form of inner resistance – a sensitive and conscious way of being. Through the body unfolds the experience of maturation, the loss of innocence, and the assumption of responsibility for one’s own decisions.

This solo speaks of a quiet, enduring strength that neither pushes nor destroys, but transforms. Of the ability to embrace contradiction, uncertainty and vulnerability as part of a deeper understanding of oneself.

Yana Reutova has been based in the Czech Republic for four years and has been intensely engaged in creative work – initially primarily with Ukrainian dancers who also fled the war to EU countries, and gradually increasingly with artists from the Czech Republic and beyond. Her newest solo represents the culmination of a two-year creative process that began during a residency with Brazilian dancer Clara da Costa, first as work on a shorter outdoor duet Womanhood. The two co-authors gradually developed its themes into the anticipated full-length indoor format, which will premiere at the TANEC PRAHA festival on 22 June 2026. The solo forms the concluding part of this programme; at the same time, each of its three parts can be presented independently, flexibly offering outdoor formats as well – for example Artist Trip, which the authors presented at the Czech Dance Platform 2025 (see photo).
Yana Reutova came to Prague from Chornomorsk near Odesa, where she led her own children’s dance studio, which achieved success in Ukraine and across Europe.
In Prague, she devotes herself both to her own artistic creation and to community work with children and their mothers, as well as with other adults and children from children’s homes. She has created the interactive children’s performances On the Way and Time of Childhood; the triptych Together Alone (I. Lost, II. Invisible Traces, III. Paradoxical Bodies, originally Endless Talks); the duet Womanhood; and the project for the Benedikt Rejt Gallery in Louny – Beauty in Strength, Strength in Beauty.
She has received support from the European initiative EFFEA – European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists – and has presented her work in Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Spain, Brazil and France.

Drowsiness

Kateryna Kuznetsova: The war made possible all the unnatural things that freeze your blood. And it made everything natural impossible, for it sowed fear in our hearts. Among the natural responses to fear – “fight, flight, freeze” – my inner woman froze. As if caught somewhere between reality and dream. She circles endlessly, unable to understand when these visions will end. She waits.
She hears a bell ringing. But it does not have the strength to wake her…

Warm Of The Cold Wall

A film shot in Kharkiv, Ukraine, with the support of Trust for Mutual Understanding (USA), UA Contemporary Dance Platform and MediaHUB of Derzhprom (UA).

Proceeds from the event will support Ukrainian artists in the Czech Republic.