By Amy Growcott
Earlier this year, Ukrainian dance couple and the winners of Holland’s Got Talent 2025, Vladyslav Detiuchenko and Veronika Rakitina launched their first official tour of The Netherlands, Revelation.
I first saw Revelation on the 22nd February at the Theater Delamar in Amsterdam and I had the great pleasure to see it for the second time on the 24th October at the Theater De Landing in Amstelveen. Since its premiere, the show’s programme has been updated to include new features.
The new feature is a documentary film about the creative process behind Wings of Light, a photography project by Vlad and Veronika in collaboration with Dutch photographer Pieter Henket. The project’s official launch date has yet to be announced, but the film offered a wonderful glimpse behind the scenes of the creative process.
Wings of Light consists of 20 fine art photographs featuring Vlad, Veronika and fifteen Ukrainian dancers, and it speaks of Ukraine’s struggle for freedom and survival during this brutal war while also honouring its cultural legacy. Each photograph has its own unique theme and setting, and carries its own message.
Sitting in the audience, even if you have seen Revelation more than once, every time feels fresh. More importantly, it brings back many emotions to the surface as we are reminded of the effects that russia’s war on Ukraine has had and still has on the Ukrainian people.
Revelation reaches deep within us, reminding us not to forget about our fellow human beings who are suffering everyday as an aggressive neighbour continues to inflict pain on them and take innocent lives in a brutal war. Vlad and Veronika capture these emotions in their dance pieces that speak to us without words of their home country’s struggle for peace and freedom and of how the Ukrainian people continue to fight and resist through it all.
The first dance piece was one of Vlad and Veronika’s signature pieces, Everglow. Everglow is a work about personal memories captured in dance, in which they relive the very day when their lives changed and the experiences that followed. Through dance, accompanied by a voiceover narrative from Vlad and Veronika, Everglow sees them bring to the stage the emotions they experienced in the early morning of the 24th February 2022 from the moment they were suddenly awakened at 5:00am by the sounds of explosions and quickly called their families and friends to warn and check on them.
A beautiful, very moving piece that touches on the challenges faced by those forced to flee their homes, the struggle for survival, hope, resilience and love. Throughout the whole piece, there was a constant struggle between light and darkness, but light was always present. For example, prop suitcases were opened to reveal lights inside and in the final section, all went dark, until light reappeared, revealing Vlad and Veronika performing with lighted mouthpieces that projected a bright light.
The bright light mouthpieces represent the one place from which light does not vanish, as long as we keep our hearts pure even in the darkest of times – the human soul. Watching Everglow, it always brings me back to that fateful day and I remember Vlad and Veronika’s interviews from the past where they told their story of how everything changed for them in one day.
Everglow was followed by the behind-the-scenes video about Wings of Light, after which came the second dance piece, My Orpheus. Choreographed by Vlad, this is a piece inspired by the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and the artistry of French artist Jean Cocteau. It expresses the immortality of art itself, which is represented by a silver mannequin that can be broken apart and put together.
Vlad performed this piece with dancers Sander Los and Gregario Dragoni, with each giving stellar performances and delivering the desire of many artists to leave something truly meaningful for humanity.
Then came the finale, Remember Us, the piece that won Vlad and Veronika the crown of Holland’s Got Talent, though it has since been expanded and further developed, beginning with a new solo for Nika. Set to the song Spider by Tara Nome Doyle, this piece is one that runs high on emotions, telling the story of finding the strength to build a new life and embracing change, and always staying together through trials, turbulence and tragedy. Watching Remember Us brought back more emotions stirred by Everglow.
The performance started with a piece that told the beginning of Vlad and Veronika’s story and ended with one that showed how far they have come since then. The ending made one feel how this artistic couple began their journey on a dark, tragic note but have rebuilt their lives in a new country and environment, and are still going strong.
From beginning to end, Revelation is Vlad and Veronika’s personal story. Emotion, art and light are the key words to describe Revelation. Two artists’ artistic vision that runs high on emotions brought about by war and the art reminding us that in dark, light is always there, something that the Ukrainian artists have been reminding us since day one.
With three beautiful dances and a stunning photography project, Vlad and Veronika have presented a performance more than worth seeing, a performance that reminds us that the light of humanity and hope is still there, and we must keep it shining.
VATAHA Recommends features events and exhibitions unaffiliated with VATAHA but aligned with our mission to promote Ukrainian arts and culture in the Netherlands.
This recommendation was suggested by Anni Schleicher. Check out all VATAHA Recommends here.
About the author
Amy Growcott is a ballet historian and a guest writer for VATAHA. She was born and raised in Northern Ireland, and has a Masters of Arts in Ballet Studies from Roehampton University, London.
Since 2022, she has been a friend and supporter of Ukraine and Ukrainian International Ballet (and the former company, United Ukrainian Ballet). She is the founder of The Marius Petipa Society and she has a Substack called Dance & Write, where she has written and published two essays on the history of ballet in Ukraine.
Photo by Oleksii Kniazkov