“Fertility / rite that brings abundance “

Who are they?
Where and why do they drag their stones?
What prevents them from getting rid of this heavy burden?
Fear of something higher and not subject to simple human understanding...
... or do they themselves represent it above?
What must a woman go through to give birth?
What tests does the Goddess face on the way, before creating something?
They carefully carry their Dharma’s in fine sieves.
They will not be able to sow a single seed until they have lived it all! The road became... Girlish passion and obsession.
A tender sisterhood turns into a bitter struggle.
Humility and disobedience.
The old must die, because only death can give birth to life!
A stalk of wheat dries under the scorching rays of the July sun...
Its grain sprouts through the warm, soft earth... and the dance begins.

TYÖRYHMÄ 

Koreografia, ohjaus: Nina Bulgakova, Vadym Yesaulenko
Tanssijat: Anastasiia Mostova, Nina Bulgakova, Kateryna Zhuravlova
Taiteellinen johtaja: Vadym Yesaulenko
Musiikki: DakhaBrakha; Laboratorium Piésni

The Fertility performance was staged by choreographers Nina Bulgakova and
Vadym Yesaulenko (Ethno Contemporary Ballet) in Kharkiv (UA) in 2022.

The dance performance Fertility is based on the exploration of the interplay
between the feminine essence and the eternal Earth, delving into the very essence
of the concept of “fertility” and the ritualistic nature of this profound interaction.
In the play we explore this concept from several angles. The Woman as a symbol
of Mother Earth, who gives life to all living things. The Woman, as a being who
gives life to a new being in her sacred womb. The Woman as the beginning of all
the beginnings.

Each of the dancers drugs along her own stone, conveying unique and dynamically
evolving relationships. The weight on the long rope symbolizes her past,
accumulated experience, and invaluable knowledge. The stone itself, steeped in the history of someone's life, also reflects the complex dynamics with men, as well as the feminine role in the sacred process of creating new life and skillfully tending to fertile soil.

The performance is a prayer, the performance is a ritual, the performance is a
celebration of the origin of life. The performance in which symbolism is embedded
in every detail. The grains of wheat that the dancers pour directly onto the stage,
the sieves placed onto the heads of the dancers, as the personification of
steadfastness and peace before the sacred act of sowing. Sickles in the hands of the dancers are not only a tool that helps to collect wheat from the field, but also a
weapon designed to protect these women from impending danger.

The creators of this project are Ukrainians, whose history is intricately intertwined
with cultivated soil and the ancient cult of bread. In difficult times, associated with
lack of means of subsistence, they acutely felt the need and deep significance of
grain and bread for survival and they blessed everything that was associated with
fertility.

Ethno Contemporary Ballet is a Ukranian dance company based in Finland. The company is specialised in connecting Ukrainian folk dance tradition to contemporary dance and dance theatre techniques. Ethno Contemporary Ballet works with Finnish and Ukrainian mythology and promotes feminine power and women’s perspective to societal issues. Our group comprises dancers Anastasiia Mostova and Kateryna Zhuravlova as well as choreographer, director and dancer Nina Bulgakova. The artistic director and founder of the company Vadym Yesaulenko is forced to stay in Ukraine.

Teoskuva: Leo Ollikainen