The Blind

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»No one can see the soul, and not everyone can hear it.« Lesja Ukrainka

The Blind is a collective image of an inert society that is unable to think critically. It's about fear of responsibility and escape from reality. It is about passive contemplation of reality and waiting. Physical and spiritual blindness has affected these people to varying degrees - some of them cannot distinguish light from darkness, some of them, having gone blind in adulthood, retain memories of the past, some know nothing but animal fear for their lives. The "Blind" live by the herd instinct and shift responsibility onto the shoulders of the one “who goes ahead”. But who are they without a "shepherd"? Will they be able to find the truth on their own? Or will someone appear to take his place? Will they be able to break the vicious circle of eternal waiting? The performance is based on Maurice Maeterlinck's play The Blind.



Tetiana Znamerovska, performer, choreographer and teacher, was born in Ukraine. She graduated from the Faculty of Choreography in Lviv in 2017 and from the Faculty of Directing of the Drama Theatre in Kyiv in 2022. Tetiana deals with acute social issues at the intersection of contemporary dance and physical theatre, analysing reflections on war through the art of movement. In addition, Tetiana explores various methods for creating dance and dance dramaturgy.

In 2018, Tetiana created her first performance "Overboard" as part of the Artil project for young choreographers. In 2022, she became a resident of the Pina Bausch Tanztheater in Wuppertal, which supported Ukrainian artists by providing accommodation, support in communicating with the authorities, rehearsal rooms, and organized trainings and master classes led by ensemble members. In this context, she became an actress in Rainer Behr's performance "VONA," which continues to tour internationally.

In the same year, she created the short film "Expectation" with Studio Wayne McGregor and the UK Platform of Contemporary Dance. After the German premiere at INSEL in 2023, Tetiana presented the performance "The Traces" at the Pina Bausch Zentrum as part of the Let The Body Speak project of the UA Dance Platform and The Place. This performance was also shown in Düsseldorf, Remscheid, Vilnius, Kiev, Lviv, Rivne, Odessa and Zaporizhzhia.



Kateryna Pogorielova is a professional dancer, performer and choreographer who was born and raised in Pryluky, a small town in Ukraine. She holds a master's degree in dance from the Ivan Franko National University in Lviv. After graduating, she worked as a choreographer at the Lviv Regional Puppet Theatre. Since 2020 she has been a dancer at the Ivan Franko National Drama Theatre in Kyiv.

Kateryna has extensive experience working with theater directors in Ukraine, working closely with actors by conducting training sessions and creating dance pieces for dramatic performances.

When the war in Ukraine began, she moved to Wuppertal. Since 2022, she has been enriched by lessons at the Pina Bausch Theater. She also worked with choreographer Rainer Behr on the performance "VONA", a project created in Wuppertal with Ukrainian dancers in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut in Kiev, the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch and the Pina Bausch Centre.



All performance dates:
Public rehearsal 07.06.2024, 19:30 - Pina Bausch Zentrum under construction, Bundesallee 260, Wuppertal
Premiere: 20.06.2024, 7 p.m. / Insel e.V. – Kultur im ADA, Wiesenstraße 6, 42105 Wuppertal
Second performance: 29.06.2024, 19.00 Uhr / Insel e.V. – Kultur im ADA, Wiesenstraße 6 – 42105 Wuppertal

The performance is supported within the framework of the Program Focus Ukrainian Artists II from NRW Landesbüro Freie Darstellende Künste. Further support comes from Kulturbüro Wuppertal, Verein zur Förderung der Bergischen Heimatkultur e.V., Insel e.V. and Pina Bausch Zentrum.