We warmly invite you to the opening of the Valeska Gert Guest Professorship, which this summer semester is held by the Ukrainian dance artist and cultural activist Viktor Ruban. The event includes a presentation by Ruban followed by a discussion. The introduction will take place on Tuesday, 15 April 2025 at 7:00 p.m. in the club room of the Akademie der Künste, Hanseatenweg 10 10557 Berlin.

As a co-founder of numerous platforms for Ukrainian artists and researchers, Ruban works tirelessly to support intercultural exchange in Europe and beyond. In addition to his artistic and curatorial practice, since the beginning of the Russian invasion,Ruban has also been working on somatic approaches to processing war experiences. Part of this practice is also the teaching of dance and somatic techniques to help soldiers, trainers and commanders cope with the extraordinary physical and psychological stresses of war.

At the centre of Ruban's work at the Freie Universität Berlin is the research-based examination of dance history, the culture of remembrance and future perspectives of the medium. As a theorist and dance historian, he is dedicated to a contemporary re-reading of Ukrainian dance traditions. In his course in the MA programme ‘Critical Dance Studies’, he and his students are examining how historical works, for example by Bronislava Nijinska, can be performatively reconstructed and transferred into current contexts today. The famous ballet dancer and choreographer developed a radically new choreographic language between 1917 and 1921 in revolutionary Kyiv, which combined aesthetic and political processes. 

The event will be held in English and admission is free. We would be delighted if you could join us on 15 April!