‘Fighting through Art’: Group of refugee ballet dancers from Ukraine mark US debut
The United Ukrainian Ballet, comprising 60 dancers from across Ukraine who fled Russia’s invasion, captured the audiences through their performance of ‘Giselle’ at Washington’s Kennedy Center
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The United Ukrainian Ballet marked its debut in Washington’s Kennedy Center, US, this week. The ballet company, based in The Hague, comprises a group of Ukrainian dancers who fled their country from the Russian invasion. AFP
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The group of 60 Ukrainian dancers, which made its debut in the United States on Wednesday (1 February), will be performing till Sunday. The ballet dancers left the audiences in awe with their version of the romantic ballet ‘Giselle’. AFP
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The production of ‘Giselle’ performed by the dancers of United Ukrainian Ballet was created by renowned choreographer Alexei Ratmansky. The ballet deals with the themes of love, guilt, betrayal, death and forgiveness, as per reports. AFP
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Ratmansky told The Washington Post last October that the themes of ‘Giselle’ are ‘meaningful for these self-exiled dancers, living far from home and loved ones’. He told AFP that the dancers are ‘united’ by the idea that they represent Ukraine. AFP
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As per AFP, Ratmansky said that earlier only women were allowed to join the ballet company as men of fighting age required ‘special permission to leave Ukraine’. But, Ukraine’s ministry of culture, ‘which saw this project as an important cultural message to the world’, eventually provided exit permits to all dancers, he added. AFP
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Dutch prima ballerina Igone de Jongh, who brought together the refugee dancers under the umbrella of United Ukrainian Ballet, told AFP that the ballet company is the ‘best way to keep the Ukrainian culture alive and visible’. The dancers who come from across Ukraine have been living and training at the former Royal Conservatoire building in the Netherlands’ The Hague city. AFP
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According to Ratmansky, Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova said that the ‘Ukrainian ballet operates as our secret weapon’, reported NPR. She said that they decided to go on with their art and cultural events amid the ongoing war as Russia would have wanted the opposite. AFP
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A dancer in the company said she hopes their performance in Washington will trigger an interest in Ukraine’s situation in those who have not paid attention, WUSA reported. “All of the world should support Ukraine right now,” another dancer told WUSA. “We are here to remind you”. AFP
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The United Ukrainian Ballet has toured the Netherlands, London, Australia and Singapore so far. Svitlana Onipko, a 27-year-old dancer from Kyiv who joined the company in The Hague in September, told AFP, “We are all fighting for the freedom of Ukraine, and we do it through art”. AFP
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The dancers received a standing ovation from the audience at Kennedy Center for their debut performance on Wednesday. The dancers sang the Ukrainian national anthem and ended their performance while waving their country’s national flag. AFP
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