Sheltering in their homes in Kyiv and Baryshivka, Ganna from the Dakh Daughters cabaret troupe and rapper Alyona Alyona speak to us about the cultural sector’s role amid the war in Ukraine. The Dakh Daughters’ participation in an upcoming theatre production in France is now hanging in the balance; Ganna tells us why the all-female punk cabaret has always dealt with politics and current events in their performances. And as one of the only rappers to write and perform in her mother tongue, Alyona Alyona explains how her Ukrainian cultural identity has become an important facet of her music.

Globalfest 2019: 5 Best Things We Saw

Will Hermes – Jan 9, 2019

Dakh Daughters
An Instagrammer’s dream, this Ukraine sextet seem to have stomped out of an Edward Gorey cartoon or a Brothers Quay film, with cellos, violin, string bass, flute, accordion, guitar and a drum kit, and members in matching black-and-white leggings, goth tutus, mime-style greasepaint, false eyelashes, rouge, black nail polish, and at least one pair of skull earrings. There were plenty of headset mics to go around; headlamps, too. Oh, yeah, the music: spine-tingling Ukrainian folk harmonizing, French rapping and a reggae jam for good measure. There was a song about a cat with lots of meowing, and a risqué sort of can-can routine. The sound occasional recalled DhakhaBrakha, a previous Globalfest act that also hails from Kyiv. But the music might remind you just as much of Tom Waits or Regina Spektor.

globalFEST Ticket Info Here