RESISdANCE

RESISdANCE is a Justice in Motion project that highlights the plight of refugees, their journey & their stories, and yet celebrates their resilience, their strength, their beauty and vulnerability.

“We cannot fight in this war in the usual way, as our Ukrainian men do. (…) Therefore, I am proud to be a part of this project… it’s my battlefield.”

In February 2023 a group of Ukrainian refugee women came together with local dancers from Oxfordshire, to stand or rather dance together in solidarity against the war. We created a dance piece that could be performed as a Flashmob, based on the emotional journeys of the refugee women. An original soundtrack was composed for the piece, inspired by traditional Ukrainian music.

On the 24th February to mark one year since the invasion of Ukraine we performed the Flashmob at Oxford Train Station. Train stations have become a lifeline for many people caught in the conflict. They offer a means of escape from the violence and a way to access aid and supplies. It felt fitting to perform this piece in our local station. The Flashmob was highly moving for those involved and those that found themselves as audience members.

We then performed the Flashmob a second time as part of a special International Women’s Day event at Oxford Town Hall, and created a filmed version at OVADA Gallery.

In July 2023 as part of Oxford Festival of the Arts, we staged a Portrait & Audio Exhibition at OVADA, that highlighted 11 of the women, their stories of resilience, and journeys into the unknown. Their portraits were taken by Ukrainian photographer Vadym Gurevych. The Flashmob was once more performed at the Opening, and shared on film throughout the week.

Below you can see videos of the performances, from the original flashmob at Oxford railway station, and the exhibition at OVADA Gallery.

The Portrait & Audio Exhibition is staged again during Refugee Week at the Central Library in Oxford in the Westgate, from 16-21st June 2025, bringing their voices once more to the public, a terrifying 3 years on from the beginning of the war in Ukraine. We still stand, we still dance, we still hope.