Art, Activism, and Acupuncture in Ukraine
Katya’s Ukraine blog
ARTISTIC PROJECTS
THEATER
War.
Culture.
Friendship.
Survival.
Goat in the Road’s newest original show, Top 5 Survival Moves, is a collaboration with Ukrainian/New Orleanian Katya Chizhayevah that takes you on a journey into Ukraine’s present and past. Uncover how culture thrives in the harshest realities, how colonial history shapes personal relationships, and the unexpected connections between Ukraine's struggle and America's past.
First-hand accounts, poignant songs, and historical context weave a tapestry of cultural creation in the midst of war. We are selling $10 tickets for a limited time (through February 17th), so don't miss this unforgettable experience presented in association with the Contemporary Arts Center.
Top 5 Survival Moves
March 8 - 17
Friday & Saturdays at 7:30 pm
Sunday, March 17 at 2:30 pm
Contemporary Arts Center (900 Camp St.)
*100% of ticket proceeds will benefit Ukrainian soldiers recovering from deployment.
Meet the team!
Creation and performance ensemble: Katya Chizhayeva, Steve Gilliland, Nicholas Javon, Leslie Boles Kraus, Richon May, and Maggie Tonra
Lead Writer: Chris Kaminstein
Top 5 Survival Moves is based on text written and collected by Katya Chizhayeva, with additions by the ensemble
Director: Chris Kaminstein
Production Manager: Shannon Flaherty
Stage Manager: Kit Sternberger
Sound Designer: Steve Gilliland
Set & Costume Designer: Ellen Bull Lighting Designer: Mandi Wood
Projection Designer: James Lanius III
Dance consultant and title originator: Mykyta Kravchenko Dramaturgical consultant: Tetiana Kytsenko
Top 5 Survival Moves is presented in association with New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center.
More show info here (https://goatintheroadproductions.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6b54b9a0d907dec9c19fb6ba8&id=d708556e8c&e=d74ddba119)
Top 5 Survocal Moves is made possible by support from the New Orleans Theatre Association, the Harper Family Foundation, New Orleans Tourism & Cultural Fund, the RosaMary Foundation, and a Community Partnership Grant from the Jazz & Heritage Foundation.
FILM
Here/There is a short documentary film made and produced by Katya Chizayeva in Kyiv, Ukraine in collaboration with Ukrainian filmmaker Viktor Petrenko.
This film shows a unique perspective of Ukrainian women who provide healthcare to the Ukrainian soldiers at the Lisova Polyana Rehabilitation Center in Kyiv, Ukraine. The film highlights their voices exploring the topic of resilience, duty, burn out, and dedication to service in time of war. The film also highlights voices of injured soldiers and the stories of their recovery from battle field concussions.
The film will screen for the first time at the New Orleans CAC in conjunction with the 5 Top Survival Moves premiere.
DANCE
Ukraine Becomes Here, a somatic movement practice workshop offered at the American Dance Festival during 2023 summer International Choreographer Residency. The aim of this workshop is to center Ukraine in dance spaces, and to move towards building empathy through conversation and somatic movement practice.
How do we soften and be vulnerable together? How do we build trust to talk about difficulties that impact our lives? What can we learn from learning about the conflict in Ukraine, as well as its history and culture?
5 Top Survival Moves Movement Lab CAC March 2023 time TBD
This workshop is based on a research practice in collaboration with Mykita Kravchenko, a Ukrainian choreo from Liv, Ukraine.
Together practice 5 top survival moves derived from the fight or flight reactions of the nervous system when under stress. We will shake, freeze, run, fall, and hold. We will research the simple practices of five movements and how they resonate with you in a container of improvisation based dance lab, conversation, and writing. Bring a journal to write in.
Since the full scale invasion of russian war on Ukraine I poured my rage into fundraising and community organizing. With the support of many people we fundraised $80K in the first 4 months of invasion. All donations went directly to mutual relief in Ukraine.
Examples of what we funded: $24,000 for trauma IFAK First Aid kits, $15,000 to Hospitallers Mobile Medic Battalion, Razom Medical, and Pirogov Mobile Hospital, $8,000 to Proliska Hospice in Donbass for the evacuation and resettlement of elderly, and $10,000 to buy 2 ambulances for evacuating people from the cities under attack, $7,000 mutual aid to health care workers, queer community, projects that distribute food in Kharkiv and Kherson, and more.
In 2022 and 2023 I traveled to volunteer as an acupuncturist at the Lisova Polyana Rehabilitation Center for psychological trauma and head injuries located in Kyiv, Ukraine.
I am a founder of Ukraine Wellness Project which funds local acupuncturists to work with injured veterans in Ukraine.
Right now I view my art as an advocacy tool, a cultural responsibility.
In the future artistic projects I would like to focus on bringing awareness to the long term effect of concussions, to highlight the need for long term care of brain injuries in Ukraine.
Update 2025:
Ukraine Wellness Project has initiated a second project focused on bringing Functional Rehabilitation concussion rehabilitation course to Ukrainian therapists.
I became interested in concussion rehabilitation after 3 years of clinical work at Lisova Polyana with veteran population where most have multiple concussions. Ukraine is still learning how to approach neuro rehab and concussion treatment. Through my research I have found Functional Neurology clinic in Atlanta, Georgia, and I have interned with Dr. Ellis at Georgia Chiropractic Neurology Clinic. After seeing many patients getting better fast I became convinced that this method needs to be brought to Ukraine.
Functional Neurology is applied neuro science physical therapy for the brain . It is different from traditional neurology which only uses drug or surgery interventions. FN is a combination of vestibular rehab, oculomotor rehab, sensoromotor rehab, and many other approaches. It’s basically a unique field that combines researched rehabilitation methods together using the diagnostic knowledge from understanding neuro pathways functions. This method shows promising outcomes to treat concussions and TBIs by working with the nervous system and the brain functionally. Together with Dr. Ellis from Atlanta, and Dr. Roope from Finland, and my collegue Oksana Dovbnya, a Kyiv based neurologist, we have developed a course work material in FN (Functional Neurology) to offer to Ukraine therapists (PTs, OTs, neurologists) who want to work in the field of neuro rehabilitation.
We hope to find further funding and NGO or institutional support in Ukraine, US, and Finland to offer FN in clinical settings to Ukraine civilians and veterans with Post Concussion Syndromes or Concussions.
In June 2025 Oksana Dovbnya and myself have visited Finland to study with Dr. Roope Cnydius for two weeks. In September we have followed up in Kyiv to outreach to the Kyiv Institute of Physical Education to their physical therapy program. We were asked to meet with the rector and to offer a lecture to 70 plus students to introduce the topic of FN. We are very excited to have a chance to use this platform to bring FN to Ukraine’s leading Physical Therapy program.
To learn more about Functional Neurology please go to www.carrickinstitute.com.
