Ukrainian dance performances at Sissi Autumn Dance 2025
Ukrainian dance performances at Sissi Autumn Dance 2025
Border/Body Line (Photo: Dusa Gábor)
Border/Body Line (Photo: Dusa Gábor)
At the end of November, Ukrainian choreographers and dancers took part in Sissi Autumn Dance 2025, a dance festival held in Budapest, Hungary.
About the festival
Founded in 1988 by the Central European Dance Theatre, the festival aims to support and promote the work of emerging choreographers. Showcasing contemporary and traditional Hungarian dance, the festival has gradually built international connections, expanded the understanding of movement culture, and embraced new technologies and innovations in dance. Over the years, Sissi Autumn Dance has grown into an event recognised by the international professional community.
Ukrainian programme
This year, the festival sought to support young talent and strengthen international ties within the Central European region. Emerging Ukrainian choreographers Olha Drobish (Leroy Dance Company) with her performance Border/Body Line, and the duo Yuliia Lopata and Halia Pekha with their physical theatre piece Kosachka, were invited to participate through the European cultural cooperation project dancEUA, which aims to strengthen the contemporary dance sector in Ukraine and foster long-term collaboration between Ukrainian and European artists.
- ‘Border/Body Line’ explores life within defined boundaries: the boundaries of the body, of territories, and of the abstract limits imposed by society.
- ‘Kosachka’, brought into focus by the current war – when many women consciously choose military service or dedicate themselves to activism – delves into collective female experience and emerges as a stage ritual reflecting on the essence of womanhood through the lens of Ukrainian history and culture.
‘Kosachka’ (photo: Dusa Gábor)
The performances took place within the framework of the dancEUA project with the support of the Ukrainian Institute.