The Kyiv City Ballet, with 35 extraordinary dancers, will make its first-ever tour of the United States this fall and the magnificent company will be on stage at 7:30 p.m. on October 23 at the Heymann Performing Arts Center in Lafayette, LA. The Kyiv City Ballet performance is offered by Performing Arts Serving Acadiana (PASA). Tickets are available at pasaonline.org [pasaonline.org] or through TicketMaster.
On February 23, the company unwittingly took what would be one of the last flights out of Ukraine for a long-planned tour. They have since not been able to return home, were sheltered by France, performing throughout that country and other European countries.
Amid the greater struggle, the exemplary dancers of Ukraine’s Kyiv City Ballet are a “voice of resistance” (National Geographic) on the global stage, bringing light and joy to audiences worldwide.
This highly-anticipated performance is part of the company’s first tour of the United States, which began September 16 in Wilmington, NC. Under the direction of former Mariinsky Theater artist Ivan Kozlov, the program, “Tribute to Peace,” includes works by Ukrainian choreographers.
Two of Ukraine’s prima ballerinas, Krystina Kadashevych and Oksana Bondarenko, will perform with the company on their US tour. The company’s principal dancer is Vsevolod Maevskiy, a former soloist of the Mariinsky Ballet and Kozlov’s former student.
The “Tribute to Peace” program showcases three powerful dances: Thoughts (choreography by Vladyslav Dobshynskyi), a contemporary ballet; Tribute to Peace (choreography by Ekaterina and Ivan Kozlov), a neo-classical work, and Men of Kyiv (choreography by Pavlo Virsky), a Ukrainian folk dance.
“Touring the States for the first time, with this range of ballets, makes an important global statement,” says Kozlov. “It demonstrates the resilience of the Ukrainian people.”
In addition to the performance for the general public, the Kyiv City Ballet will also perform for sixth graders in Lafayette Parish public schools on October 24, as part of PASA's Daytime Performance for Students program..
"We are so pleased that we can offer thousands of school students the opportunity to see this PASA season's stunning stretch of performances," says Lyle, about PASA's partnership with the Lafayette Parish School System.
Later that day, Koslov will teach a master class for ballet dancers at 4 p.m. in McLaurin Hall on the UL campus. Dancers wishing to take part in the masterclass should email their name, mailing address, phone number and email address to assistant@pasaonline.org. Registration in advance is required. For more information, call PASA at 337-769-3231.
“PASA’s board of directors immediately understood the value of hosting this beautiful company. We are honored to be able to help these world-class artists continue to share their talent,” says PASA’s board president Tim Basden.
“PASA is known for local access to great performances, especially dance,” says Lyle. “We are delighted to be able to welcome the Kyiv City Ballet, especially at this time of global strife that has imperiled the Ukraine, decimated its infrastructure, turned millions of Ukrainian citizens into refugees, laid waste to thousands of lives and demolished many of that nation’s cultural symbols.”
“We are also pleased that we can engage sixth graders and their teachers in an exploration of a variety of topics—current events, geography, elements of Ukrainian culture, the beauty of dance and career opportunities in the arts—at the same time that they experience what it’s like to be an audience member in a formal theater,” she says.
"For us, it is important because we can continue to represent our country this way; resilience, strength, power of our country. That nothing can break us,” says Kozlov. “The show must go on."
