OTHERWORLDS

OTHERWORLDS is a contemporary embodiment of an ancient pagan Ukrainian ritual that honours the cyclical patterns of nature, as witnessed in the transition of seasons and, with them, the ever-changing flow of life. Following the passage from spring to summer, natural entities such as flowers, trees and ephemeral spaces will act as your guiding spirits through a cycle of communal growth and rebirth. Modern XR technologies bring to life engraved symbols, the scenic sounds of ancient instruments and ritual songs like Vesnyanky and Rusalni pisni. Here, there are no answers - your unique journey of movement and sensory experience connects everything. OTHERWORLDS is inspired by the spiritual link between humans and nature, as in pre-Christian times, when certain rituals helped bring people closer together in communities. As an audience, you are invited to enter a ritualistic world where the experience of an altered reality invites you to move with others in a dance between the present and the past. Rather than explaining specific cultural origins, the ritual focuses on offering audiences an empowering, communal experience. Through this, director Sophia Bulgakova not only keeps Ukrainian heritage and knowledge alive but also protects the power of sacred transformative experiences worldwide. At our present time, when most indigenous practices are threatened with extinction by the modern world and invasive forces, this experience offers us the radical ability to remember the self-repeating cycles of life.