The Center of Contemporary Art “DAKH” is founded by director and producer Vlad Troitskyi in 1994. Troitskyi – a physicist by education and successful businessman, debuted as director in the theatre studio of Anatholyi Cherkov – the leader of Ukrainian 70-80s vanguard. In 2001 Vlad Troitskyi graduated from the Russian Academy for Theatre Art’s Acting and Director’s Faculty, course led by Boris Yukhananov. A snail creeping up the Fujiyama mountain “slowly, to its very top” became the symbol and peculiar image of DAKH’s founding principles.
In 1994-1995 DAKH functioned as an „Art Hotel” – an open stage for independent theatre and music projects, there was also spaces dedicated for exhibitions. In 1995 Troitskyi held the international festival „School” and opened an independent international experimental theatre school-laboratory which served as an alternative to the governmental system of theatre education. Leaders of Russian theatre vanguard, the followers of Anatholyi Efros and Anatholyi Vasiliev – Boris Yukhananov, Igor Lysov, Valeryi Bilchenko were teaching at DAKH with their own methods in 1996-1999.
At the same time – in 1995-2005 – Vladimir Ogloblin (1915-2005) – the legend of Ukrainian realistic theatre and laureate of the governmental prize of USSR, prominent Ukrainian director and pedagogue, authored plays and taught at DAKH. In 1999-2010 DAKH cooperated with the Russian director, playwright and pedagogue Klim who is still working for the theatre as a playwright.
In 2004 DAKH was formed as the author’s theatre of Vlad Troitskyi whose style can be put as the experience of searching for a “dynamic synthesis” of different methods of acting and director’s arts as well as artistic forms of embodiment of creative intensions. One of the sources of creative energy and deep inspiration is found in Ukrainian music tradition, an attempt to give a new life to a theatricality so characteristic of it” (N. Shevchenko).