Dakh Daughters is a Ukrainian music and theatre project started in 2012 in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. The band consists of seven women, who play on various instruments and sing in different languages (Ukrainian, English, French, German, Russian) and dialects of Ukrainian.''Борис Барабанов'
Украина на все голоса. Dakh Daughters спели в «Гоголь-центре»

Коммерсантъ (, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia certified July 2013 circulation of the daily ...

No. 50 от 26.03.2014. They often use texts by famous authors in their lyrics (e.g.

Taras Shevchenko Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko (; ; 9 March 1814 – 10 March 1861) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, public and political figure, folklorist, and ethnographer. He was a fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts and a member of the Brotherhood o ...

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Joseph Brodsky Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky (; ; 24 May 1940 – 28 January 1996) was a Russian and American poet and essayist. Born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) in the Soviet Union, Brodsky ran afoul of Soviet authorities and was expelled ("strongly ...

Charles Bukowski Henry Charles Bukowski ( ; born Heinrich Karl Bukowski, ; August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994) was a German Americans, German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambien ...

, Shaggy). Dakh Daughters participants are members of different projects such as DakhaBrakha and Perkalaba. The band's name derives from the Dakh theater which is associated with the project. The band became famous after publishing on YouTube the music video "Rozy / Donbass", based on Shakespeare's Sonnet 35 and Ukrainian folk songs. Also well-known is the video of their live performance on

Maidan Nezalezhnosti Maidan Nezalezhnosti (, ) or Independence Square is the central town square of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. One of the city's main squares, it is located on Khreshchatyk Street in the Shevchenko Raion. The square contains the iconic Ind ...

in Kyiv during the early

Euromaidan Euromaidan ( ; , , ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protests in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv. The p ...

protests in December 2013. Dakh Daughters has performed in various Ukrainian cities, as well as outside of the country (in Poland, Czech Republic, France, Russia and Brazil). They have taken part in such events as Zaxidfest,

Gogolfest GOGOLFEST () is an annual multidisciplinary international festival of contemporary art and Filmmaking, cinema in Kyiv, Ukraine, dedicated to the famous writer Nikolai Gogol, Mykola Gogol. The festival showcases theater, music, film, literatur ...

, Silent films festival in Odesa etc. The first band's studio album, ''IF'', containing 9 tracks, was released in November 2016. The second, ''AIR'', came out in April 2019. Dakh Daughters was featured prominently in the 2019 Ukrainian musical comedy film '' Hutsulka Ksenya''. "Through their music and their songs, it is the notions of heritage and identity that are questioned, summoning both classical texts – such as Shakespeare's Sonnet 35 – and Ukrainian folk songs. These poems or stories sung, chanted, rapped, always question the universal and timeless struggle of Man for the defense of his freedom and his affiliations. Thus, the Dakh Daughters manage to elaborate a poetry of anger to the rhythm of the drums of war, the sobs of the violins and the frenzied hope of 'Ukraine on fire'." They performed at

WOMAD WOMAD ( ; World of Music, Arts and Dance) is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance. History WOMAD was founded in 1980 by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, w ...

in 2023 where their freaky cabaret style was well received.

Members

The band consists of seven women, who all are both singers, musicians and actresses in the Dakh theater: * Solomiia Melnyk * Ruslana Khazipova (who is also a member of the band Ragapop, and a former member of Perkalaba) * Natalka Bida * Anna Nikitina (who is also a member of the band Ragapop) * Zo * Tetiana Havryliuk * Nina Garenetska (who is also a member of the band DakhaBrakha)

Discography

*''If'' (2016) *''Air'' (2019) *''Make Up'' (2021) *Pandora's Box (2025)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dakh Daughters Ukrainian all-female bands English-language musical groups from Ukraine Musical groups from Kyiv 2012 establishments in Ukraine Musical groups established in 2012 Ukrainian folk music groups Dark cabaret musicians