Summary
The Ukrainian Crisis Media Center hosted a press conference presenting the results and future plans of the project “Oral History for Dance Heritage.” Speakers included project curator Viktor Ruban, NAMU representative Daryna Yakymova, and experts from Ukrainian museum and dance institutions.
Ruban emphasized that the project is part of the broader initiative DancePlan Ukraine and represents a historic step toward establishing an institutional approach to preserving performative arts in Ukraine. He described the project as the first pilot protocol for archiving dance using oral history, enabling museums to integrate oral testimonies, embodied knowledge, and contextual information into collections of immaterial cultural heritage. As Ruban stated, the protocol allows museums to “Integrate oral testimonies, experiences and contexts of dance practice into museum collections”.
Ruban highlighted why this work is urgent: dance is not only an art form but a social and ritual practice shaping identity, community, and resilience. He noted that Ukraine lacks systematic documentation of dance creators from the past decades, making it difficult to counter Russian cultural propaganda and reclaim Ukrainian artistic history. He stressed the need for archives, testimonies, and research to restore historical continuity and visibility.
NAMU curator Daryna Yakymova presented the newly developed three‑part protocol for archiving dance:
- Metadata — title, authorship, performance history, dance category, format, structure, participants, documentation (video, photo, audio), and material objects such as costumes or props.
- Oral History Archive — interviews with performers, choreographers, scenographers, musicians, and other contributors, forming a multi‑disciplinary body of embodied knowledge.
- Reconstruction Protocol — guidelines for preserving essential elements of a dance work, identifying variable components, defining rights, licenses, and technical requirements for future re‑performance.
Yakymova explained that museums traditionally preserve material objects, making dance — an ephemeral art — a challenge. Oral history, introduced by Ricardo Viviani, became the key method enabling NAMU to conceptualize dance as a museum object.
Ruban added that Viviani’s 10 years of experience at the Pina Bausch Foundation were crucial in adapting oral history to dance. He stressed that without such documentation, many Ukrainian dance works — often performed only once — disappear entirely, along with their artistic, social, and historical contexts.
The speakers agreed that building a systematic, accessible, and well‑structured archive is essential for preserving Ukraine’s performative heritage, enabling future research, reconstruction, and international recognition.