Daugavpils Theatre Guest Performance / THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY?

Guest performance by Daugavpils Theatre

Based on the novel by Horace McCoy

They Shoot Horses, Don't They

A movement performance

Main Hall

In Latvian

Duration: 2 hours 15 minutes (including an intermission)

Age limit: 16+

! Gunshots are heard during the performance

Premiere: September 6, 2024

Like S. Pollack's film “They Shoot Horses, Don't They?” starring Jane Fonda, the performance lets the audience experience the dancers' daring and the gradually intensifying emotional tension in the events of the dance marathon, which unfold as swiftly as a hurricane that spares nothing in its path.

America during the Great Depression. Unemployment and poverty prevail. People are ready to do anything to earn even a little money. Even to take part in a dance marathon lasting several days, which audiences eagerly follow at every moment, no longer seeing the participants as human beings. Lies, fear, betrayal, and ambition saturate the air of this show. The competition becomes a fierce fight for a place in the sun, and those who cannot give up the dream of a big win are forced to sacrifice more than they had originally thought.

Some will choose to fight so as not to turn into an animal, a driven horse; some will still turn into a driven animal, unable to fight for themselves; some, unwilling or unable to keep fighting, will end their existence, seeing in this an alternative to losing their humanity.

A synthesis of dance, stage movement, vocals, and acting in a performance about struggling with one's own weaknesses and overwhelming circumstances. To quote one audience review: “Broadway show level in the best sense.”

Theatre Night 2024/2025 Award

Choreographer or Movement Artist of the Year - Irina Bogeruka

DANCE AWARDS 2023-2024 nominations

Contemporary dance production or event

Contemporary dance choreographer

Choreographer and librettist: Irina Bogeruka

Director: Olegs Šapošņikovs

Set and costume designer: Inga Bermaka

Original music by: Aleksejs Fedotovs

Lighting designer: Sergejs Vasiļjevs

Cast: Aleksandra Koguce or Anna Blakunova, Jevgeņijs Mihailovs, Vadims Bogdanovs, Marks Šelutko, Vanda Gibovska, Miroslavs Blakunovs, Luiza Prokofjeva, Artjoms Afanasjevs, Natālija Kotona, Sofija Šakalova, Nikolajs Gedzjuns, Eduards Beļnikovs, Darja Šakalova, Alisa Matvejeva, Raimonds Paegle, Alina Kaļina, Jegors Korobkovs, Kristīna Zaharova, Vladislavs Vasiļjevs, Ritvars Gailums, Inese Ivulāne-Mežale, Viktors Jancevičs, Irina Kešiševa, Žanna Lubgāne, Jūlija Ļaha, Zanda Mankopa, Mihails Samodahovs, Milena Savkina, Kristīne Veinšteina, Egils Viļumovs, Sofija Eglīte

Publications

Theatre critic Atis Rozentāls' review “Dancing for All the Money” (Kroders.lv,

• 17.04.2025.)

“Our theatre's destiny is to synthesize genres.” Daugavpils Theatre opens the new season, story on Latvijas Radio 1

“When the show becomes survival. Daugavpils Theatre opens the new season with a movement performance”, article in the newspaper “Kultūras Diena”