KYIV CITY BALLET OF UKRAINE

KYIV CITY BALLET OF UKRAINE

IN ITS FIRST-EVER CHICAGO VISIT

TWO PERFORMANCES ONLY SEPTEMBER 24 and 25

Serving as the original ballet of Ukraine for 10 years, Kyiv City Ballet brings light and joy in the darkness to audiences worldwide with its exemplary ballets. And now, amidst a greater struggle and rising tensions, the company has stood as the “voice of resistance” on a global stage. The day before Ukraine was invaded in February, the Kyiv City Ballet unknowingly took one of the last flights out of Kyiv. The company flew to Paris to begin a long-planned tour and has not returned home since. The country of France sheltered them, and the company has been performing throughout France, and now Europe, since the invasion began. Kyiv City Ballet starts its first-ever tour of the United States on September 16 in advance of this rare Chicago visit at the Auditorium Theatre; the company will be performing in only 12 markets this Fall.

“We are proud to support Ukraine’s most distinguished dance ambassadors for peace, Kyiv City Ballet. The company was forced to flee war-torn Ukraine and have been without a home since then. We knew we had to work with management to schedule an engagement in Chicago; fortunately, it spawned a larger U.S. tour,” said Auditorium Theatre CEO Rich Regan. “For one weekend, see the magnificent classically trained dancers and support the artists who are risking it all to bring culture to their communities.”

Under the direction of Kyiv City Ballet Artistic Director Ivan Kozlov, formerly of The Ballet at Mariinsky Theatre and the St. Petersburg Eifman Ballet, Chicago audiences can expect to be dazzled by the company’s mixed repertoire program, featuring two of the top prima ballerinas of Ukraine: Kristina Kadashevych and Oksana Bondarenko, along with the company’s principal dancer Vsevolod Maevskiy, a former soloist of The Ballet at Mariinsky Theatre and Kozlov’s former student. Kyiv City Ballet will perform a mixed rep trio in Chicago:

Thoughts, a contemporary work examining the meaning of human thought, as choreographed by company member Vladyslav Dobshynskyi, to a score by Nils Frahm, Burkhard Dallwitz, Max Richter, and Lisa Gerrard & Patrick Cassidy.

Tribute to Peace created by Ivan Kozlov and the company’s deputy director, Ekaterina Kozlova, especially for the U.S. 2022 tour, to a score by Edward Elgar, that explores what life should be without conflict, anger, or despair.

Classical Suite showcases the wedding pas de deux from three classical ballets, all set to scores by Ludwig Minkus, yet written in different styles: Paquita, La Bayadere, and Don Quixote. Choreographed by Kozlov (after Marius Petipa), Classical Suite is performed by the principal dancers of Kyiv City Ballet and gives the audience a look at exquisite classical ballet to conclude the program.