SONGS FOR BABYN YAR
Available for TOURING
Songs for Babyn Yar is a music and theatre performance that intimately weaves languages, harmonies, and cultures to unearth some of the forgotten stories and silenced songs of Babyn Yar in Ukraine.
“Beautiful and breathtaking. I felt the tug on my heartstrings and feel it still… a show that deserves to be seen about a story that needs to be told.”
“Elegiac and questioning, asking how do we sing about such events, or make art out of it? Important questions, powerfully realised.”
“Wonderful… Very moving, profound as well as brave and daring in raising difficult questions”
Nestled close to Kyiv, the ravine of Babyn Yar witnessed the systematic massacre of over 100,000 people, predominantly Jewish, by Nazi soldiers in September 1941, and in the ensuing two years.
We follow three exceptional musicians with Ukrainian and Jewish roots—Yuriy Gurzhy, Svetlana Kundish, and Mariana Sadovska as they embark on a profound exploration of their shared heritage. Together, they delve into personal reflections, survivors' testimonials, traditional Yiddish and Ukrainian folk songs, and newly composed pieces. The performance also integrates the rich prose and poetry of Mariana Kiyanovska, Olena Teliha, and Anatoly Kuznetsov.
“[Mariana Sadovska’s] voice holds the clarity and bite of Slavic folk styles; her stage presence has the bright-eyed intensity of Björk or PJ Harvey.”
- THE NEW YORK TIMES
“[Yuriy Gurzhy is] an explorer”
- fRoots MAGAZINE
“Sveta Kundish hypnotizes the audience”
- IN GEVAB JOURNAL OF YIDDISH STUDIES
“Such memories of Babyn Yar can unite us... Sometimes you just have to remember.”
- AUDIENCE MEMBER IN KYIV
Yuriy Gurzhy, Svetlana Kundish and Mariana Sadovska. Photograph by Elena Groza.
Directed by Josephine Burton
Dramaturgy by Yael Shavit and Josephine Burton
Music composed and arranged by Yuriy Gurzhy, Svetlana Kundish and Mariana Sadovska
Video, set and projection design by Marie Blunck
Lighting design by Jess Bernberg
A Dash Arts production.
In partnership with Ukrainian Institute (Kyiv) and Goethe-Institut Ukraine. Supported by Maria Björnson Memorial Fund, Shoresh Charitable Trust, Münchner Kammerspiele (through funding from the Foreign German Ministry and the Civil Society Cooperation Initiative) and their Sisterhood Kyiv-München programme, Goethe-Institut London and Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung. Co-promoted with Ukrainian Institute London.
If you are interested in hosting this production, please contact our producer Cristina at cristina@dasharts.org.uk.
“Quietly, powerfully, deeply, holding our souls in the palms of our hands. I want to believe that other cities of the country will be able to hear this.”
TOUR DATES
Berlin
Tagungswerk
11 November 2021
London
JW3 London
21 November 2021
Kyiv
Theatre on Podil
7 December 2021
Weimar
mon ami
6 August 2022
Cologne
Orangerie Theater
6 October 2022
Munich
Münchner Kammerspiele
22 & 23 November 2022
Other locations TBA
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