Bio

Polina is a Russian born, Dublin reared, contemporary lyra and fire artist, performing solo and group acts across Ireland since 2016. In 2019 she co-founded a circus theatre group called Erebidae with her partner. Together they have written, directed and produced 3 full length shows and multiple acts throughout Ireland, India and Thailand. Her work looks at themes of selfhood, ego, nature and archetypes and she is drawn to these concepts having been an asylum seeker as a child with a conflicted sense of identity. A good example of this can be found in her lyra solo "Storonoyu Dosjd" (2018), where she communicated the deep sense of melancholy she feels in connection with the generational trauma of the communal Slavic spirit, exploring the theme of the artist archetype in the writing, directing and performance of "Who's There?" (2019). Her work "Essence" is a piece about embodying elemental archetypes within nature and was conceived at the Irish Aerial Creative Intensive in 2020 under mentors Chantal McCormick and Kathryn Cooley of Fidget Feet.

Project

I was selected with my colleagues in CREATION 21/22, a truly unique programme which was created for performing artists at all stages of their careers and across a range of disciplines (dance, theatre, circus, spectacle, performance art, street arts), to develop their practice, network, learn and showcase work. It will include in-person collaboration opportunities in Ireland, as well an international residency in 2022 The project offers artistic development opportunities through mentoring, coaching, residencies and ‘in-progress’ presentation opportunities as part of Carlow Arts Festival, Dublin Dance Festival, National Circus Festival and Danseur Festival. This project is an opportunity to deeply collaborate with artists from various performing art forms and areas of experience. This residency is specifically focussed on performing artists in the East and Southeast region of Ireland, as well as European partners. It will be designed hand in hand with makers from the Theatre, Dance, and Circus/Street Art/Spectacle worlds to ensure it is delivering to the participating artists what they need at this time. The project is flexible and will focuses on creating space to support artists in the ways they currently need.