COSSACHKA
COSSACHKA is an audio-choreographic performance by an independent collective of Ukrainian female artists. It holds space for female perspectives on war, resilience and identity through cultural myth and lived experience.
ABOUT
COSSACHKA IS A POETIC AUDIO-CHOREOGRAPHIC EXPLORATION OF THE FEMALE GAZE ON WAR AND CRISIS, AND THE PRESERVATION OF IDENTITY IN THE FACE OF COLONIALISM. INITIATED BY DIRECTOR YULIIA LOPATA AND CREATED BY AN INDEPENDENT COLLECTIVE OF UKRAINIAN FEMALE ARTISTS, THE WORK PREMIERED IN KYIV IN 2023. THE PERFORMANCE WEAVES TOGETHER CONTEMPORARY DANCE, LIVE SINGING AND ELECTRONIC MUSIC, AND DRAWS ON THE LEGEND OF THE WOMEN WARRIORS, AMAZONS, WHO ROAMED THE LANDS OF MODERN UKRAINE, WEARING UNCOVERED BRAIDS (COSY/KOSY IN UKRAINIAN) AS A SIGN OF INDEPENDENCE. ROOTED IN RESEARCH INTO TRADITIONS, SYMBOLS AND THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF UKRAINIAN WOMANHOOD, COSSACHKA PROPOSES A NON-HEROIC, SPACE-HOLDING PERSPECTIVE ON RESILIENCE IN THE FACE OF HARDSHIP, REFLECTING COLLECTIVE FEMALE EXPERIENCE ACROSS CULTURES.
FORMATS OF COOPERATION
· Touring
· Open talks
UPCOMING DATES
12.06 — Sfantu Gheorghe, Romania
While the independent cast of COSSACHKA continues touring nationally and abroad, in 2025 the performance was retransmitted to the active repertoire of the Zaporizhzhyan Dance Theatre in Ukraine.
COSSACHKA. A full-evening piece for six performers tracing a mythic journey of spirit within a woman’s body and reflecting on the collective female experience in times of crisis.
The team behind COSSACHKA is deeply engaged in volunteering, bringing a social dimension to their artistic work. In November 2024 they organized a rehabilitation residency for female veterans in the Carpathian Mountains, offering movement, voice and craft workshops facilitated by the artists alongside therapists.
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Jill Crovisier
Jill Crovisier creates choreographic works based on social and cross-cultural observation. She combines strong visual composition, theatrical storytelling and precise movement language across theatre and participatory formats.
