Moving Borders is an Aerowaves project investigating the impact of Ukrainian dance artists on the contemporary dance scene in Europe. After an exploratory meeting in Paris in January, the Moving Borders team gathered in Prague in the middle of June to further its research into the experience of Ukrainian dance artists displaced by the invasion of their country. Led by Yana Reutova and hosted by Tanec Praha Festival director, Yvona Kreuzmannova, the core group was joined by ten guest artists, all bar two of whom are now based in central and eastern Europe; a couple remain in their war-torn homeland. Our mission for this session was to explore what practices might be deployed to counter the impact of trauma. Over two and a half days, we danced around the topic – literally and figuratively – to tease out how embodied trauma might be acknowledged, processed and even exorcised.

About the project 

Moving Borders explores how three female dance artists from Ukraine are informing approaches to welcoming and engaging refugees through dance, and in the development of inclusive and cohesive practices across Europe.

This project aims to provide tools to dance and cultural organisations to handle the arrival of forcibly displaced artists and civilians. It facilitates exchanges within social and cultural contexts, as well as exploring issues around the inclusion of newcomers and new challenges brought about the cross-border movement of people. From 2023 to 2025, Aerowaves together with Arte Sella, La Briqueterie CDCN and Tanec Praha is organising international workshops, meetings (live and online), dissemination events and activities, as well as commissioning a research article.

Moving Borders is a cooperation project co-funded by the European Union.

Research Team

Ukrainian dance artists: Yana Reutova (based in Prague, Czechia), Anna Kushnirenko (based in Bassano del Grappa, Italy) and Rita Lira (based in Paris, France)

Researchers: Monica Gillette – dramaturg, Luisella Carnelli – impact researcher, Karina Buckley – dance writer

Partners: Yvona Kreuzmannova (Tanec Praha Festival, Czech Republic), Giacomo Bianchi and Rosa Zambelli ( Arte Sella, Italy) and Elisabetta Bisaro and Arina Dolgikh (La Briqueterie CDCN, France)

Upcoming encounters

• (In person) 25 – 27 August 2024. International Workshop Meeting at Arte Sella.
• (In person) 18 – 20 November 2024. International Workshop Meeting at La Briqueterie 

Read more about the project.