“A friend of a friend put a hand around me, ha, I’m feeling insecure but I just went hahahaha.”

In everyday situations, our boundaries are often crossed, leaving us unsure of how to respond. HA explores the performativity of laughter as an escaping mechanism. By stripping away theatrical distractions, Jana Jacuka’s solo work emphasizes the raw and essential elements of performance, inviting the audience to engage with the visceral experience of extreme vocal practices. HA is an investigation of the voice as a choreographic tool. In HA the voice becomes an extension of the body. She grunts, fry-screams, speaks while inhaling and shifts into communication beyond words.

She will come empty handed.
It’s just the space,
her and you,
and suddenly
HA

The choreographer and performer of the production is Jana Jacuka, while dramaturgical support was provided by Eva Susova and Toni Steffens. The dramaturgs are interdisciplinary artists working at the intersection of visual arts and choreography. Eva Susova’s practice encompasses performance, sound, sculpture, and writing, with a particular focus on embodied knowledge, whereas Toni Steffens’ artistic work is grounded in bodily sensitivity, imagination, and emotional empathy as intelligent bodily technologies that help to reconfigure relationships with reality.

The mentor of the production is Miguel Melgares, the consultant is Bruno Listopad, and the text consultant is Joachim Robbrecht, with text editing in collaboration with Nikolas Lange. Vocal coaches are Moa Holgersson, Monica Janssen and Maria Magdalena Kozłowska. The graphic designer is Estere Betija Grāvere, and the photographer is Pēteris Vīksna.

Traces left by Stina Force and Amparo Gonzales.
Language: performed in English with Latvian translation.

This work wouldn’t be possible without Sam Scheuermann, Veronika Abdul-Visocka, DAS theater tutor and peer support.

Performance was developed within the context of the DAS Theatre master programme and with financial support from the ATD-Aart Janszen Fund (NL) and State Culture Capital Foundation (LV).

Jana Jacuka (b. 1995) is a choreographer and performer from Latvia. She recently completed the MA programme at DAS Theatre in Amsterdam. Her artistic practice revolves around creating performances from almost nothing, using the body, voice, and text as primary materials. Over the past two years, she has been exploring the voice—particularly the letters H and A—as catalysts for sound. While studying extreme and experimental vocal techniques, she has focused on how the voice can become an extension of the body: how it can be choreographed and how the sounds of it can move an audience.

Jana has collaborated with artists such as Marina Abramović, Damien Rais, Dries Verhoeven, Arno Schuitemaker, among others. Her work has been presented at venues and festivals including Frascati (NL), DansBrabant (NL), AUAwirleben Festival (SWE), Kanuti Gildi Saal and SAAL Biennaal (EE), and the Homo Novus Festival (LV). Her piece The Distance Between Us was named “Performance of the Year 2022/2023” at the Latvian Dance Awards.

Upcoming performances:
September 2 at 7:00 PM
September 4 at 7:00 PM
September 6 at 7:00 PM

Tickets and gift cards: https://git.lv/lv/events/program