About the project
“INRE. Intimacy of Reflection” by Mariia Potapenko
The performance is built on the intersection of the fates and inner worlds of two women, Mariia Potapenko and Valentina Levchenko. The performance reflects their sense of vulnerability and transition through different stages of growing up.
In the performance, there is a context of scenes, but much within them was improvised. I improvise depending on how Mariia moves, and she moves depending on how I sing. We did DNA tests and took the corresponding music. We use flamenco and ‘Balkan’ music because we have both types of blood. These rhythms are very close to us.
Valentina Levchenko
The creative process was based on the fairy tale “The One Who Revives with a Song” from Clarissa Estes’ book and the process of exploring the performers’ capabilities. They strive not only to discover these paths of self-discovery but also to share them with the audience, inviting them on a journey through their own experiences and feelings.
In life, you rarely get to see how a woman experiences her stages of time. We exist at different stages simultaneously, but at the same time, we go through them. And it was like several stages in one place, like my conversation with myself 10 years ago, or my idea of my former self 10 years from now.
Audience comment
About the authors
Mariia Potapenko is a movement artist, dancer, performer, and mime. She graduated from the Kyiv Municipal Academy of Variety and Circus Arts with a degree in pantomime. In the past, she was an artist in Franco Dragone’s show in the Land of Legends. She was a member of the Las Ukrainas dance group and the InterArt project under the direction of Maria Caballero. She is a performer in the operas “Chornobyldorf,” “Opera Lingua,” and “Genesis” of the contemporary opera laboratory Opera aperta.
Valentyna Levchenko is a singer, improviser, composer, and community leader who has developed as a musician in various countries and cultures. Valya actively teaches vocal improvisation. She studied under the patronage of Rhiannon and Bobby McFerrin and learned various musical techniques in the USA, Canada, and Brazil. In 2019, Valya created the project “Zitkani” in Brazil and released her first album “Berehy” – Ukrainian folk music combined with Brazilian and African instruments and rhythms.
Presentations
- The presentation took place on February 29, 2024, at the Les Kurbas centre.
Credits
Production proto produkciia
Lead producer Olga Diatel
Executive producer Volodymyr Burkovets
Associate Producers Yuliia Parysh, Alona Odarenko, Iryna Onishchuk
Assistant Nata Zelenska, Sofiia Levchenkova
Communication Olga Diatel
Media coordination Kateryna Lukiashko
Design of posters Yaroslava Kovalchuk
Photo Valeriia Landar
Video documentation Daria Sokolova, Andrii Borodavchuk, Yaroslav Pushkarchuk
Financial management Liliia Pylatiuk, Roman Dyma
Supported by
The work was implemented by proto produkciia in partnership with the GT Foundation from Romania with financial support from the European Union under the Europe House program.