Screening of the Ukrainian premiere of GALA, followed by a conversation with Jérôme Bel

On 28 July, Lviv hosted the Ukrainian premiere of GALA, a performance by French director and choreographer Jérôme Bel, one of the leading figures in contemporary European theatre. His work has been presented at the Olympic Games, the Festival d’Avignon and the Louvre.

The Ukrainian premiere brought together 19 performers from Lviv and other Ukrainian cities, aged between 7 and 73, with a wide range of backgrounds, abilities and experiences.

KOLO invites you to a screening of the video recording of the performance, followed by a conversation with Jérôme Bel and Veronika Shuster, stage manager and second assistant director of GALA.Language: English Free entry with RSVP required.

About the performance

Have you ever danced? It doesn’t matter how, where or when. The point is not to reproduce a technique perfectly. Your age, profession or life experience are irrelevant. What matters is allowing yourself to move freely, without fear of judgement. Make mistakes again — and make them better! Here, the joy and freedom of dancing matter more than virtuosity.

GALA is a performance about dance and the desire to dance. It challenges our assumptions about what dance is supposed to look like, and who gets to occupy the grand stage of a national theatre.

About Jérôme Bel

Jérôme Bel is a French choreographer and theatre director, widely regarded as one of the pioneers of conceptual dance. His works have become landmarks of contemporary performance and have been presented at the Olympic Games, the Festival d’Avignon and the Louvre, as well as in London and New York. With GALA, Lviv joins this international journey.Team

Concept and direction: Jérôme BelAssistant director: Maxime KurversAssistant director for the Ukrainian version: Maria Bakalo

Authors and performers: Alla Kravchenko, Artur Kokoev, Oleksandra Shymko, Volodymyr Saveliev, Limo, Oleksandr Mart, Iryna Lipshey, Orest Kurilov, Andrii Lanovenko, Olha Boiko-Hrynchuk, Oleh Zherebetskyi, Yura Kyselyevych, Dmytro Mitichkin, Romana Dumanska, Matvii Budzylo, Hanna Oneshchak, Viktoriia Petrova, Marta Borys, Serhii Lytvynenko.

Costumes: The performersProject producer and curator: Yuliia LinnikCasting: Liuba IlnytskaStage manager: Veronika ShusterAssistant to the performers: Anastasiia IvanesAdministrator: Solomiia TorchynovychAssistant: Danylo MandziukFinancial manager: Tetiana HolubovaGrant manager: Olesia ZakharovaPoster design: DUO.Team — Oleksandra Rudenko and Mariia ProkopenkoLegal advisor: Viktoriia HrytsenkoPR manager: Myroslava MarkiianSocial media: Snishka and LiliaTechnical director: Yurii YatsykLighting: AntonSound: AnnaProps: Ania Nykytiuk and Danylo Mandziuk

Organised by Nafta, an independent theatre from Kharkiv, in partnership with the Unbroken rehabilitation centre and the Maria Zankovetska National Theatre, supported by the French Institute, the City of Paris, and the Ukrainian Institute in France.