ONCE I PLAYED AT WAR

Once I Played at War is a contemporary dance performance by Ukrainian choreographer Anton Ovchinnikov. The work explores play, memory, and instability through a raw work-in-progress format. April 8th, 2026Arts Printing House, Vilnius, Lithaunia

What this work is NOT

This is not a performance about war.And it does not try to explain anything.
It does not ask for empathy.And it certainly does not offer a position to agree with.
This work does not heal.It is not careful with the audience.
It does not try to make the experience easier.If anything happens — it is rather the opposite:some things become less stable.
I do not represent anything here.Not a country. Not a community. Not a point of view.
Not even myself - consistently.
This is not an attempt to speak “on behalf of.”And definitely not an attempt to be understood.
The body in this work does not illustrate ideas.It interrupts them.
It repeats what should probably be skipped.It gets stuck in movements that lead nowhere.It returns to places where nothing works anymore.
Sometimes it feels like it knows more than I do.
Play here is not freedom.
It is a way to keep things from collapsing completely.And at the same time - a way not to look directly.
Some rules are invented.Some are imposed.The difference is not always clear.
This is not a finished work.But not because something is missing.
It is unfinished because it cannot be resolved.
Any attempt to make it wholefeels like a simplification.
This work does not need to be understood.It does not need to be liked.
And perhaps it does not even need to be watched until the end.
What remains is a sequence of attempts.
Some of them fail.Some of them repeat.
None of them fix anything.

Process

The work developed through repetition, interruption, and removal.

Instead of building a stable structure, the process focused on returning to the same material under slightly different conditions — until it began to shift on its own.

Some fragments were constructed.
Others appeared unintentionally and resisted being shaped.

The process did not aim for clarity.
It followed persistence.

Team of the project:

Anton Ovchinnikov - producer, choreographer, performerYana Shliabanska - composerJulia Hudoshnyk - dramaturgJoanna Lesnierovska - dramaturgical assistance
The Project having benefitted from the "la Fabrique Chaillot" residency scheme.