Historical-music performance

This is a project of Iryna Mazur’s ballet “Life.” The premiere took place on the stage of the Lviv Opera House and there was a full house. The authors of “Reminiscences. UA” found a new artistic language and used it for two hours to tell about several centuries of destruction of Ukrainian intelligentsia and total Russification of Ukraine, especially in the 20th century. The scenic show revealed the scarcely known, often terrifying facts and pages of history and culture of our country. The performance includes 10 novels, private stories, which develop the complicated topic, leaving the right to make conclusions to the audience. “Reminiscences. UA” tells about war, fear, repression, death, and other “presents of the Russian world,” as well as about faith, life, love, hope, and struggle for Ukraine.

“Reminiscences. UA” is a fusion of a variety of genres: choreography, dance, music, songs, poetry, and video installations. The idea is a brainchild of director, head of the ballet “Life” Iryna Mazur. The project was realized by 30 participants, including the dancers of the ballet “Life” and singers Ruslana Lyzhychko, Nazar Savko, Olesia Kyrychuk, Iryna Dolia, Lilia Vavrin, as well as musicians, in particular, lira and kobza players.

“During centuries-long falsification and distortion of Ukrainian history, the successes and achievements of Ukrainians were appropriated or hidden,” Iryna MAZUR emphasizes. “So, not only the world, but several generations of Ukrainians did not know and still don’t know their outstanding poets, prose writers, musicians, artists, scientists, and philosophers. They don’t know whose term ‘Executed Renaissance’ is, who Boichukists are, why the house ‘Word’ got the name ‘Crematorium,’ what ‘Sandarmokh’ means, what the destiny of the author of ‘Shchedryk’ was, what Instytutska Street has been hiding since 1937, and why history repeats itself today.”

After the Lviv premiere “Reminiscences. UA” will be shown in other cities of Ukraine, in particular, in the east.

“With the help of this project we wanted to say the most important thing: Ukraine has a future, people live here who are able to reconsider our past. And after reconsidering the past, they will be able to build a decent and successful future,” Iryna Mazur says, “For our team ‘Reminiscences. UA’ is not just a creative breakthrough. This is our civic duty.”