DakhaBrakha

Bio

DakhaBrakha is a quartet of Ukrainian origin, formed in Kiev in 2004, which aims to reflect on the fundamental elements of soul and traditional Ukrainian music by reinventing them for more contemporary needs. The name DakhaBrakha, remarkable and authentic at the same time, means ‘Give/Take’ in ancient Ukrainian.

The group was formed at the Kiev Centre for Contemporary Art from the idea of the visionary artistic director Vladyslav Troitskyi, whose influence remains in the group’s performances, which are never performed without special effects.

The group consists of Marko Halanevych (voice, darabouka, tabla, didgeridoo, accordion, trombone), Iryna Kovalenko (voice, djembe, accordion, percussion, piano, žalejka), Olena Tsybulska (voice, percussion, garmon) and Nina Garenetska (voice, cello, percussion), has as its mission ‘to create a new style of music that consists mainly of the most popular and ancient Ukrainian melodies, with the addition of some African sounds and Bulgarian or Hungarian ideas’, in an effort to bring the contemporary generation closer to the magnetic folklore of this land.

After the release of the album Light in 2010, DakhaBrakha won the Serguéi Kuriojin Award, one of the most important awards in the contemporary art sphere. Describing themselves as ‘with one foot in the avant-garde urban theatre scene and one foot in the village life that nurtures and protects the cultural richness of Ukraine’, DakhaBrakha display all the fury and sensuality of Ukrainian folklore.

The group is considered a cult phenomenon in Ukraine and attracts a discerning audience that is captivated by their aggressive sound combined with tribal rhythms and frenetic vocals. In addition to performing concerts as a band in their own right, DakhaBrakha are also the ‘resident’ band of Dark Theatre, a theatre that is recognised throughout Europe as a leading producer of avant-garde shows and combines the group’s songs with theatre and dance.

In 2016, DakhaBrakha released The Road, an album they dedicated to their homeland at a very difficult time for the country, and performed in Italy, at the Triennale Milano Teatro, as part of the Music after Music festival.

In 2020, they return with their latest project Alambari. The album, recorded in 2019, opens up further to contamination, combining typical Eastern European folklore with American blues sounds and creating an album with an eclectic and intriguing look, which guarantees the group an award in the ‘Musical Arts’ category in the 2020 Shevchenko National Prize.

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