Ratmansky’s United Ukrainian Ballet Performs Giselle at OC’s Segerstrom June 29-July 2

Alexei Ratmansky, the Russian born choreographer and former ballet dancer, who was trained at the Bolshoi Ballet School and danced with the Ukrainian National Ballet, and is a former artistic director of the Bolshoi, left Russia in 2008, and has since worked closely with American Ballet Theater and will serve as artist in residence with New York City Ballet beginning in August. Ratmansky is well known for his restaging of classic story ballets such as Cinderella, Paquita and Sleeping Beauty.

Ratmansky who has been vocal in his support of Ukraine, and is a Ukrainian citizen, is bringing his staging of Giselle to the Segerstrom Center in Orange County June 29-July 2, with a company he calls the United Ukrainian Ballet, that includes 60 dancers who fled Russia in the wake of the war in Ukraine. A portion of the proceeds from the performances will go to Blue Check Ukraine, which according to their website “identifies, vets, and fast-tracks urgent financial support to Ukrainian NGOs and aid initiatives providing life-saving and other critical humanitarian work on the front lines of Russia’s war on Ukraine.”

For more information and tickets: Segerstrom Center for the Arts.