Jana Jacuka
Jana Jacuka (1995, LV/NL) is a Latvian choreographer and performer based in Amsterdam. Her work operates at the intersection of dance, performance and theatre. She explores how the body, voice and language influence one another and can function as equal choreographic materials.
Jana’s practice is rooted in vocal choreography. She regards the voice as a (in)visible extension of the body, as an extra limb with which she moves through space. Using extreme vocal techniques, such as grunts, yodelling and speaking on the inhale, she explores the possibilities and limits of the voice and the body. In doing so, she seeks out moments when control gives way to a loss of control and meaning emerges without everything having to be expressed in words.
Her performances are often created using a minimum of resources. With little or no set design, sound design or elaborate lighting, Jana brings out the essence of performance: the presence of the body and the voice, and the direct encounter with the audience.
Jana and DansBrabant have been working together since 2025. Since HA, in which she explored the performativity of laughter and the letters H and A, she is working on AAA (working title).
When the doors close and we find ourselves together in a single space – where we share the same air, breath and information – every sound becomes part of that shared space.
AAA takes its starting point in the vocal practice of yodelling, a singing technique that resists the attempt to stabilise the voice and instead embraces instability. Through extreme vocal exercises and unpredictable yodelling turns, she oscillates between control and loss of control, both in voice and body, inviting the audience to an experience that is both physically felt and heard.
Jana studied at the Latvian Academy of Culture and completed her Master’s degree in DAS Theatre in Amsterdam in 2025. Her work has been presented at venues including the Santarcangelo Festival (Italy), Frascati (the Netherlands), Arsenic (Switzerland) and the Homo Novus Festival (Latvia). Her performance HA was awarded the International Bursary Award at the Amsterdam Fringe Festival in 2025. Her work Distance Between Us received the Performance of the Year award at the Latvian National Dance Awards. HA served as a source of inspiration for Dries Verhoeven’s work The Fortress at the Dutch Pavilion during the 2026 Venice Biennale.
