An Evening Of Dance In Support Of Humanitarian Aid To Ukraine

On Thursday night, I was present at an evening’s performance at the Segerstrom Center for Arts in Costa Mesa, CA, that was moving, elevating, and that was important: The United Ukrainian Ballet’s (UUB) West Coast premiere of Giselle, as revived and reinterpreted by Alexei Ratmansky, the Artistic Director of the UUB, in a benefit for BlueCheck, an organization Liev Schreiber created to vet, verify and fund Ukrainian-led and local humanitarian aid organizations to aid victims of the Russian incursion.

The evening was underwritten thanks to the generosity of Elizabeth Segerstrom and the Henry T. and Elizabeth Segerstrom Foundation. There are still two more performances: Tonight at 7PM and Sunday at 1PM. Tickets are almost sold out but check with the box office.

“This unique collaboration is a chance to demonstrate the transformative power of the arts and its tremendous impact not only on these extraordinary dancers who have been displaced by war,” Elizabeth Segerstrom said, “but also on audiences to have a unique chance to participate directly in the cause.” True Dat.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, many Ukrainian performers were stranded abroad, as were those Russian citizens but who opposed their government’s action – like Alexei Ratmansky who was then working at the Bolshoi Ballet. Ratmansky who holds Ukrainian citizenship, is now persona non grata in Russia.

Many Ukrainian ballerinas fled the country or were stranded abroad; Ukrainian male performers had to stay and were immediately recruited into the war effort. Later, a few principal male dancers were allowed to leave to do their patriotic service by being part of the United Ukrainian Ballet, which found a home base in the Netherlands.

When war broke out, Dutch prima ballerina Igone de Jongh, who introduced Thursday night’s performance, started a project to bring Ukrainian dancers to the Netherlands, which blossomed into The United Ukrainian Ballet Foundation, and as part of its outreach, the United Ukrainian Ballet, for which de Jongh became its artistic leader. The company, based in The Hague at the Dutch Centre for Ukrainian Dancers, features 60 refugee Ukrainian soloists, ensembles, creatives and technicians.

“My wife Tatiana and I have felt greatly privileged to be able to work with this group of refugees based in The Hague,” Alexei Ratmansky said. “Creating Giselle, with its themes of love and betrayal, death and redemption, offered all of us some catharsis.”

On Thursday night’s performance Giselle was played by Christine Schevshenko who was beauty incarnate in the role. When she came on stage she radiated, you couldn’t take your eyes off her. However, what struck me about her performance was that it was not about pyrotechnics. I have seen past Giselles who dance the part with manic energy to communicate the character’s madness. Schevshenko had a different approach – her Giselle was not a series of gravity-defying jumps or pirouettes. Her superpower is the ability to slow down time – to make each of her movements visible and purposeful.

The story I was told was that when they first thought of forming the United Ukrainian Ballet, they faced an immediate problem: There were only ballerinas – Ukrainian men were compelled to stay and if in good health, be drafted. It was only after an appeal and intercession that several Ukrainian male dancers were allowed to go abroad and support their country’s war effort by performing. At Thursday night’s performance the role of Albert was played by Alexis Tutunnique, a very tall and energetic dancer.

The classic sets and costumes were all donated by the Birmingham Ballet. The music was conducted by Gavriel Heine, the former resident conductor at St. Petersberg’s Mariinsky Theater.

In the first act, it was clear the company was still finding its footing but given the challenges they face of integrating dancers from multiple companies, with vastly different training and backgrounds into a cohesive performance, what they achieved was all the more remarkable. If there was some room for improvement in the first act, the second was all the stronger.

When the curtain fell on the performance, the audience lept to their feet, and there was a five-minute standing ovation. Then in an incredibly moving moment, the entire company took the stage and unfurled Ukrainian flags as the orchestra played the Ukrainian National Anthem. Many audience members also held Ukrainian flags, and shouted SLAVA UKRAINA!

But that was not all… The theater lights went dark again, and we took our seats. When the curtain rose, a young man, Oleksander Teren, whose legs had been amputated sat alone on stage, making movements with his arms and upper body. Teren, a Ukrainian graphic designer who had been working as a barista in Kyiv when he was conscripted to the front lines where he fought until August 24, 2022 when he was hit by a Russian shell.

Teren lost both his legs, and was fitted first for prosthetics in Ukraine, then in the US with special sports prosthetics thanks to the Revived Soldiers Ukraine Foundation. In the US, Teren was invited to attend the United Ukrainian Ballet’s performance in Washington D.C. He fell in love with the ballet and wanted to be part of it, and a special piece, Airlift, choreographed by Emma Evelein was performed Thursday in its world premiere.

As dancers surrounded him, Teren put on his prosthetics, was helped to stand and then, mirabile dictu, he danced with the company. It was an extremely powerful conclusion to an evening both beautiful and meaningful.

Regardless of the politics, there is a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, and it is amazing to see Art being performed as an aid both to its displaced artists, and for their families and fellow citizens in that country. If you can see the performance, you will be moved and, if you can support the United Ukrainian Foundation or BlueCheck, please do.