HA

“A friend of a friend put a hand around me, ha, I’m feeling insecure, but I responded 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. The project aims to encourage people to trust what they feel as a legitimate form of understanding. 

By stripping away all 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 she searches for the voice to become another 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

Jana Jacuka

Jana Jacuka is a choreographer/performer from Latvia, who is curious to reconsider what it means to experience performance and uses body, voice, text and space as departure points. Drawing inspiration from everyday life, from seemingly simple things, she explores the intricate layers hidden within. 

Having a background in working on the topic of domestic violence, she values non-verbal communication as another form of conveying information to one another. In contexts where emotional violence leaves no physical trace, proving its impact can be difficult. Yet, the body's intuitive response remains valid and real. Her research honors the act of understanding through 'feeling' within performative settings and encounters with the audience.

 

Credits

Choreographer / Performer: Jana Jacuka
Tutor: Miguel Melgares 
External Advisor: Bruno Listopad 
Outside eye / Dramaturgy advice: Eva Susova and Toni Steffens
Text advisor: Joachim Robbrecht
Text editing in collaboration with: Nicolas Lange 
Vocal advisors: Moa Holgersson, Monica Janssen, Maria Magdalena Kozłowska 
Graphic designer: Estere Betija Gravere 
 

This work would not have been possible without Sam Scheuermann, Veronika Abdul-Visocka, Ira Brand, Amparo Gonzales, Peteris Viksna, DAS theater tutor and peer support.  
Made possible with financial support from the ATD-Aart Janszen Fund.

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