Moving Kinship Ukraine

UNARMED: Among the flowers I find myself is a trauma-informed performance and immersive installation that centres the lived experiences of Ukrainian veterans, military personnel, and civilian dancers during wartime. 

Co-created through a feminist, trauma-informed lens, the interdisciplinary work examines kinship, survival, and healing.  

“We are more-than-human
Our hearts are unyielding
And truth is on our side.”

Rather than following a linear narrative, this work creates space for the unspeakable—where bodies, geopolitics, and landscapes collide. From the wreckage of war, gestures and silences emerge, revealing truths too often left untold.

Developed within the Moving Kinship hub, this work emerged from a series of in-depth interviews led by transdisciplinary feminist artist Beatrice Allegranti. Blending dance, spoken word, and original music, it unfolds as a powerful collective act of memory, resistance, and renewal.

“See us.
Remember us.
Stand with us.”

“The role of women in war is multifaceted and complex. Their stories and experiences are rarely foregrounded in dominant narratives of conflict and recovery. This work reclaims space for their voices in Ukraine—and offers an embodied response that challenges reductionist portrayals of war.” 

Beatrice Allegranti 

  “I remembered writing a poem about Ukraine the night before the war began. This performance carried me back to that moment.”

 "Remembering the dead is a political act."

Beatrice Allegranti 

  “Some experiences cannot be      translated into words. They can only be felt. This performance created a space safe enough to release what holds us.”

 "When watching I thought - this is the place where you voice yourself. "

  “Here, I allowed myself to cry—and that was healing.”

“I chose not to put this performance into words. That choice felt extraordinary.”

“These real, embodied stories brought forward courage, resilience, fear, and terror all at once.”

  “I noticed that healing can begin with something as small as a breath, or a hand resting on your chest.”

"I held my breath watching — even the second time."

“This is an incredibly urgent and relevant work.”

"The most moving piece of dance I have seen. It created a space between life and death."

“The theatre/environment of the performance reflected the Ukrainian context of the dance and the reality of where it was taking place. I was particularly moved by the texture of the seating; it appeared to be covered in a layer of dust.”

“I found the white rose petals to be symbolic of fragmented lives, destruction, the coldness/callousness of the war, the chaos of trauma, and the desperate search for what is lost.”

“Seeing the audience as they entered was significant—in terms of the risk of just being there. For me, they represented all the Ukrainian people who witness death and destruction as part of their daily lives.”

“I enjoyed hearing about the work/research in process as explained by Beatrice Allegranti, bearing witness to the dancers’ performance and the many layers they each brought to their storytelling. The staging was deeply effective, and the sound was at times soothing, at times disturbing (I ‘heard/saw’ shelling and buildings falling at one point), and at times dreamlike. Also, the spoken word in Ukrainian brought tears to my eyes. The video installation was powerful in its spaciousness and clarity in seeing/noticing and being with.”