After winning Holland’s Got Talent in 2025, Ukrainian dancers Vladyslav Detiuchenko and Veronika Rakitina are bringing an expanded version of their contemporary dance production Revelation across the Netherlands. This first major national tour for the duo began its renewed run on 7 October and will continue throughout the 2026/27 season.
Partners on and off stage, Vlad and Veronika draw on their experiences of displacement and building a life together in the Netherlands in this powerful performance.
“The programme weaves together our experiences of war and displacement, our life in the Netherlands, our relationship with one another, and the transformations we have undergone — both as individuals and as artists,” they explain.
Dance as language
Veronika and Vlad have been working together since 2023, bringing their varied dance backgrounds to their artistic partnership: Veronika trained in classical ballet, while Vlad comes from a contemporary dance education and has spent years developing his own choreographic approach.
“I love the moment when the structure of ballet begins to break apart, or, on the contrary, when absolute precision suddenly appears within chaotic, highly emotional movement. This contradiction between control and freedom is very close to what we create together,” says Veronika.
Vlad primarily creates the choreography, while Veronika is often involved in the visual development of their performances, including staging and design. Their work also draws heavily on photography, cinema, and visual art.
For Vlad, the aim is to create movement that communicates true emotional experience: “I am interested in the moment when the body does not simply show an emotion, but actually goes through it.” Although the couple do not discuss painful personal experiences publicly, these have increasingly informed their work.
“We do not invent emotions or stories out of nowhere — we speak about things that we have actually felt and lived through ourselves,” they explain. “And perhaps that is why an audience can sense something real in the work and recognise a part of their own story within ours.”
Beyond dance: cinema and visual art
Other artistic forms play an important role in Veronika and Vlad’s creative process. Sometimes, explains Vlad, the idea for a performance or project can start with a photograph, or even a particular quality of light. Veronika is particularly interested in the influence of cinema on theatre choreography, and the differences between the two. “In theatre, you cannot literally edit, zoom in with a camera, or suddenly change the angle, but you can direct the audience’s attention in a similar way: deciding what is in focus, what remains in the periphery, how long you allow someone to look at a particular image, and at what moment that image needs to change,” she explains.
Vlad, meanwhile, has been studying Italian Renaissance and classical art, with a focus on the depiction of the human body. Among his references are Michelangelo’s Pietà, Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus, and Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne: “Sometimes a single gesture, the position of a head, or the distance between two bodies is enough to create an entire story. I look for something similar in choreography.”
Revelation onstage
This season’s renewed production of Revelation brings together several of the couple’s existing choreographic works.
Everglow, which first premiered in The Hague in March 2025, addresses the first months of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, drawing on Vlad and Veronika’s experiences in that period. My Orpheus takes inspiration from the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice as well as the works of filmmaker and artist Jean Cocteau (another reflection of the couple’s interest in other artistic forms). The programme also includes an expanded stage version of the performance that won then Holland’s Got Talent.
The production draws on their experiences of displacement and rebuilding their lives in the Netherlands. One of the most significant changes for the couple came when they moved from refugee accommodation into their own apartment.
“After several years of uncertainty, being able to close the door and know that this is your own space, your home, and to have that feeling of comfort and ordinary everyday life is something incredibly valuable to us,” says Veronika.
Through Revelation, the pair share their personal experiences with audiences across the Netherlands. As they put it, “In a way, it really is our revelation to the audience.”
Looking forward
Outside of this ongoing tour, Vlad and Veronika are developing Stitching n’Era, their Netherlands-based foundation and dance company dedicated to promoting Ukrainian contemporary dance, with the goals of “continu[ing] to remind people about the war in our home while also speaking about humanity, unity, and resilience.”
They are currently seeking funding to grow the organization and develop new productions while creating opportunities for Ukrainian contemporary dancers and artists.
“We would also love n’Era to become part of a cultural bridge between the Netherlands and Ukraine — strengthening the connection between the two cultures and the two countries, particularly between their dance communities.”
Revelation continues touring the Netherlands through March 2027.
Unless otherwise credited, all photographs are sourced from Vlad and Veronika’s Instagram accounts.