For this session, we welcome Kasia Lech, Igone de Jongh, and Anna Seidl as our guests, who will address the challenges encountered by art performers during their migration experiences. Kasia Lech, an Associate Professor in Global Performance History at the University of Amsterdam, will focus on Eastern European perspectives and examine migrants’ agency in shaping their socio-political-cultural representation against the backdrop of nationalist discourses and European crises. Igone de Jongh, formerly a Principal Dancer at the Dutch National Ballet, is a co-founder of The Ukrainian Ballet Company Foundation together with Senf Theaterpartners. De Jongh, along with a dancer from The Ukrainian Ballet Company, will share insights into their journey and the obstacles they have encountered. The Foundation comprises 60 dancers who sought refuge in the Netherlands following the Russian full-scale invasion in February 2022. The mission of the Foundation is to protect, support, and raise awareness about Ukrainian dance and ballet culture. Anna Seidl, Assistant Professor at the Department of German Language and Culture at the University of Amsterdam and a former Principal Dancer at the Dutch National Ballet, will serve as the session’s moderator.
