Radio 477!
Jazz/Kharkiv/1929/Today
Yara Arts Group + Serhiy Zhadan + Anthony Coleman
In 1929, Ukrainians were discovering the joys of jazz and singing the stories of their city of Kharkiv. The audiences loved the show’s catchy songs, wild dances and dazzling sets. The Communist Party bosses did not, so the show and its artists disappeared in Stalin’s purges. A few years ago, Virlana Tkacz, Yara’s director, discovered the conductor’s score hidden in an archive.
Radio 477! is a new show created by Yara Arts Group and Ukrainian artists about the city of Kharkiv, its jazz history, and how it stood up to Putin today. With texts and lyrics by award-winning Ukrainian poet Serhiy Zhadan, music by Anthony Coleman, it is directed by Virlana Tkacz.
Photo of 1929 show, graphic by Waldemart Klyuzko
Yara Arts Group, a resident company at La MaMa Experimental Theatre in New York, creates visually stunning theatre pieces that explore contemporary and traditional cultures of the East. Find out more at www.yaraartsgroup.net