Traditional patterns is an independent collective organised to create a dance project dedicated to folk songs about wars. The project was initiated by dance artist, somatic specialist and folk sinning practitioner Ekaterina Kaliuzhnaia in 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The concept of the project was developed in May 2023 at the Online residency ON | OFF (Pro Helvetia foundation), with a curator Gabor Varga as a mentor.
In May 2024 we presented a solo performance in work-in-progress format at the Le doc en scene festival in Paris. For now the collective is developing the project using only their personal resources.The collective includes Ekaterina Kaliuzhnaia (as a choreographer and a performer), Polina Fenko (as a dance dramaturg) and Ksenia Lukina as a producer.
To learn more about the project, please, look at the video presentation and read the story of the project.
The concept of the project was developed in May 2023 at the Online residency ON | OFF (Pro Helvetia foundation), with a curator Gabor Varga as a mentor.
In May 2024 we presented a solo performance in work-in-progress format at the Le doc en scene festival in Paris. For now the collective is developing the project using only their personal resources.The collective includes Ekaterina Kaliuzhnaia (as a choreographer and a performer), Polina Fenko (as a dance dramaturg) and Ksenia Lukina as a producer.
To learn more about the project, please, look at the video presentation and read the story of the project.
Traditional patterns is an independent collective organised to create a dance project dedicated to folk songs about wars. The project was initiated by dance artist, somatic specialist and folk sinning practitioner Ekaterina Kaliuzhnaia in 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The concept of the project was developed in May 2023 at the Online residency ON | OFF (Pro Helvetia foundation), with a curator Gabor Varga as a mentor.
In May 2024 we presented a solo performance in work-in-progress format
at the Le doc en scene festival in Paris. For now the collective is developing the project using only their personal resources.The collective includes Ekaterina Kaliuzhnaia (as a choreographer and a performer), Polina Fenko (as a dance dramaturg) and Ksenia Lukina as a producer. For the Moving Identities residencies we apply as a group of two artists that will be able to join all the events.
To learn more about the project, please, look at the video presentation and read the story of the project.
The concept of the project was developed in May 2023 at the Online residency ON | OFF (Pro Helvetia foundation), with a curator Gabor Varga as a mentor.
In May 2024 we presented a solo performance in work-in-progress format
at the Le doc en scene festival in Paris. For now the collective is developing the project using only their personal resources.The collective includes Ekaterina Kaliuzhnaia (as a choreographer and a performer), Polina Fenko (as a dance dramaturg) and Ksenia Lukina as a producer. For the Moving Identities residencies we apply as a group of two artists that will be able to join all the events.
To learn more about the project, please, look at the video presentation and read the story of the project.
The project elucidates traditional folk songs dedicated to wars and grieving. Why did such songs inspire people to participate in war? How does the structure of the songs, its melody, semantic layer, sound effect a listener?
Considering traditional singing as a spiritual ritual with a specific structure of the song, my interest is to elucidate the imprinted pattern and to recharmed from it. How do such patterns reveal collective reactions and intentions?
Originally traditional songs seemed to be perfomed in order to connect with nature and its cycles (as the cycle of life and death). The songs helped people to accept death, to move through.
In imperialistic times the power of the songs started to be used to make people go to war and fight their fear in face of danger.
Considering traditional singing as a spiritual ritual with a specific structure of the song, my interest is to elucidate the imprinted pattern and to recharmed from it. How do such patterns reveal collective reactions and intentions?
Originally traditional songs seemed to be perfomed in order to connect with nature and its cycles (as the cycle of life and death). The songs helped people to accept death, to move through.
In imperialistic times the power of the songs started to be used to make people go to war and fight their fear in face of danger.
"I always felt connected to folk songs deeply as I have been singing it since my childhood with my family".
Ekaterina Kaliuzhnaia, choreographer and a performer
Ekaterina Kaliuzhnaia, choreographer and a performer
As a lullaby grandmother used to sing me a song about the Kozaks and their grieving on military duty. And I love this song a lot. She transmitted to me Ukrainian and Russian vocal techniques from the Zaporozhye region.
Since 2019 I have made several expeditions to the Russian north in order to explore vocal techniques of Vologda and Arkhangelsk regions, practicing with its holders.
This year I started to explore the songs with movement and critically observe the effect of the songs and the way it was used.
Since 2019 I have made several expeditions to the Russian north in order to explore vocal techniques of Vologda and Arkhangelsk regions, practicing with its holders.
This year I started to explore the songs with movement and critically observe the effect of the songs and the way it was used.
Why do we find this important
Among various researches on invasive nature of oral practices and ritual singing we find especially inspiring the works by Mladen Dolar, Brandon Label, Augustine Genou. The researchers focus on a connection between oral practices and cannibalism, the trans effect, the way the repeating words influence on the singer, the sonic effects in space and human bodies.
"As a somatic specialist I am exploring the effects of the song on bodily systems of the listener. The vibration of the voice affects the nervous, endocrine, respiratory systems, digestive tract, hearing and balance and perception".
As the digestive tract and voice are very close to each other, I am wondering how the vibration of the song helps to digest the situation of the war and need to go to a battle.
"As a somatic specialist I am exploring the effects of the song on bodily systems of the listener. The vibration of the voice affects the nervous, endocrine, respiratory systems, digestive tract, hearing and balance and perception".
As the digestive tract and voice are very close to each other, I am wondering how the vibration of the song helps to digest the situation of the war and need to go to a battle.
How do I explore traditional songs and their influence on the audience?
With the embodiment as the somatic method of BodyMind Centering approach I allow the vibration of my voice to spread throughout my body, observe the journey and reflection of the sound inside me and in outer space.
I focus on the multiple layers of song, various sound parameters and the acoustic features of the space. I allow the vibration to move my body, following the melody of the song. I explore the connection between the digestive tract and the voice, the ways vibration spreads through the different systems of my body - into space.
The pattern of the song is also the object of my research. It shapes the trajectory for my movement. I am discovering the most vivid, emotionally charged moments on the intonation, sound volume, dynamics, words. In this way the semantic aspect of the song is also revealed.
Using the deconstruction method, I will highlight the most peaky, striking moments in the singing - repeating, slowing down, intoning the voice, transforming the initial movement.
With the embodiment as the somatic method of BodyMind Centering approach I allow the vibration of my voice to spread throughout my body, observe the journey and reflection of the sound inside me and in outer space.
I focus on the multiple layers of song, various sound parameters and the acoustic features of the space. I allow the vibration to move my body, following the melody of the song. I explore the connection between the digestive tract and the voice, the ways vibration spreads through the different systems of my body - into space.
The pattern of the song is also the object of my research. It shapes the trajectory for my movement. I am discovering the most vivid, emotionally charged moments on the intonation, sound volume, dynamics, words. In this way the semantic aspect of the song is also revealed.
Using the deconstruction method, I will highlight the most peaky, striking moments in the singing - repeating, slowing down, intoning the voice, transforming the initial movement.
The process of the research on the song Oh how we remember these times
Our team
- Ekaterina Kaliuzhnaiachoreographer, performerA dance artist and a somatic practitioner (SomaticBODY Training) based in Berlin. Ekaterina was a participant of Ohne Zucker project on dance performance in 2015-2021, co-created various pieces with Moscow based artists. Critically observing the issues of somatics, she explores the phenomenon of a pattern in traditional culture with her movement and voice.
- Polina Fenkodance dramaturgDance artist and dramaturge based in Berlin. She holds an MA in Contemporary Theatre, Dance, and Dramaturgy from Utrecht University and a dual BA in Art History from the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Saint-Petersburg State University and Bard College, New York). In her performances and installations, Polina embraces diverse forms of documents (like breathing scores, bodily imprints, dreams) that create liminal spaces of plural bodily realities through methods like infusion, overlay, juxtaposition, and disamalgamation. Themes include catastrophic thinking, fractal memory as bodily memory, and relational bodies shaped by personal and collective memories. Driven by an interest in alternative forms of knowledge production she organises multidisciplinary laboratories that create spaces for experiential education and discussions in other than verbal types of communication.
- Alexey KokhanovsoundAlexey Kokhanov is a voice, sound, and performance artist based in Berlin. He works at the interface between contemporary music and experimental performance. Alexey's artistic practice explores the different aspects of voice — from physiological to its aesthetics and politics.
- Kseniia LukinaproducerKsenia Lukina is a freelance dance, theatre and performance producer, she works in the independent scene. She studied History of Art at University College London. Afterwards she moved to Moscow, where she worked as an independent producer for festivals, exhibitions and non-profit projects and eventually became head producer for the performative arts programme at the GES-2 House of Culture. Since 2023 she lives and works in Berlin. Ksenia currently works as a production mananger with Rimini Protkoll Theatre Label (Berlin), Miller de Nobili Dance Theatre (Dresden) and Ringtanz e.V. Theatre Ensemble (Berlin).
What we are searching for
In order to continue my research we are looking forward to take part
in a fully founded residency providing the studio in summer or autumn 2024.
The production of the peice is planned to spring 2025.
Contact us
Phone: +49 15781070699 (Ekaterina)
Email: whiteblueelephant@gmail.com
In order to continue my research we are looking forward to take part
in a fully founded residency providing the studio in summer or autumn 2024.
The production of the peice is planned to spring 2025.
Contact us
Phone: +49 15781070699 (Ekaterina)
Email: whiteblueelephant@gmail.com
Choosen songs
Oh, how we remember that time when the general led us
Through the high and cold, through the Turkish pass.
Oh, how we remember when we wandered knee-deep in snow
And leading our horses in our hands and facing our enemies.
Across mountains and valleys, across lakes and meadows
The patrols of the army ride through the mountains, the valleys, the lakes and the meadows,
looking for the Turks' enemy.
There are black burkas and white bashliks in the distance:
They are not Turks or Kurds, but Kuban-Kozaks.
Through the high and cold, through the Turkish pass.
Oh, how we remember when we wandered knee-deep in snow
And leading our horses in our hands and facing our enemies.
Across mountains and valleys, across lakes and meadows
The patrols of the army ride through the mountains, the valleys, the lakes and the meadows,
looking for the Turks' enemy.
There are black burkas and white bashliks in the distance:
They are not Turks or Kurds, but Kuban-Kozaks.
by Ivan Lapin, Evgeny Bagrintsev, Fedor Belousov, Arseny Simatov, Dmitry Matveenko, Ilya Chekunov, Maxim Sasov
February 2019 (Psekhako ridge, Mzymta river valley, Krasnodar region, Live sound)
Oh, you ladies, you're smiling.
You're smiling, you're in love.
You'll love, you'll love, you'll love.
Love me, too.
You go to the green garden.
Take me too.
You'll pick the flowers there.
You'll pick them for me too.
You will weave wreaths
You will weave them for me too.
You will go to the river Danube -
Take me too.
You'll throw wreaths into the water...
You'll let mine too.
Your wreaths floated on top -
but mine went to the bottom.
Your friends from the war came -
but mine didn't come.
He won't come himself, he won't send a letter.
You're smiling, you're in love.
You'll love, you'll love, you'll love.
Love me, too.
You go to the green garden.
Take me too.
You'll pick the flowers there.
You'll pick them for me too.
You will weave wreaths
You will weave them for me too.
You will go to the river Danube -
Take me too.
You'll throw wreaths into the water...
You'll let mine too.
Your wreaths floated on top -
but mine went to the bottom.
Your friends from the war came -
but mine didn't come.
He won't come himself, he won't send a letter.
BOYZ
She has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Grammy Awards, and the Mercury Prize
The wind is blowing, the wind is blowing wildly,
Bending the oaks,
A Cossack sits on his grave
And asks for the wind:
A Cossack is sitting on his grave
And he asks the wind:
"Tell me, wind, tell me, violent,
Where is the Cossack fate?
Where is fortune, where is hope?
Where is the glory and freedom?"
Where is the fortune, where is the hope?
Where is the fortune, where is the hope?"
The wind answers him:
"I know," he says, "I know,
Your fate is Cossack
In a distant land.
Your fate is Cossack
In a distant land.
It lies trampled on
By grey oxen".
The Cossack heard and cried
With small tears.
The Cossack heard and cried
With small tears.
Bending the oaks,
A Cossack sits on his grave
And asks for the wind:
A Cossack is sitting on his grave
And he asks the wind:
"Tell me, wind, tell me, violent,
Where is the Cossack fate?
Where is fortune, where is hope?
Where is the glory and freedom?"
Where is the fortune, where is the hope?
Where is the fortune, where is the hope?"
The wind answers him:
"I know," he says, "I know,
Your fate is Cossack
In a distant land.
Your fate is Cossack
In a distant land.
It lies trampled on
By grey oxen".
The Cossack heard and cried
With small tears.
The Cossack heard and cried
With small tears.
"Віють вітри, та віють буйні" - Варвара Никонівна Діхтяр
