An exceptional evening, Sunday, at the Opéra National du Rhin. The 33 dancers of kyiv City Ballet performed excerpts from ballets from their repertoire. The troupe is in residence at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and everywhere in France, stages open their doors to them for a solidarity tour. Next step: Saint-Malo on May 10.
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It’s an almost improvised tour that builds up from week to week. After Beauvais and Vannes, the Opéra National du Rhin hosted the kyiv City Ballet on 10 April. A solidarity tour, made possible thanks to the mobilization of the world of dance. But also spectators, many of whom come to each performance. In Mulhouse, for example, the proceeds from the ticket office were donated to the troupe to enable them to stay in France. Additional donations were donated to Doctors Without Borders.
Artists who can exercise their art, almost normally. kyiv City Ballet dancers live a complicated but unique moment. “We are so grateful for all that we are given, it is immense”, explains Ekaterina Kozlova, the ballet director. “And even if it’s hard to focus on work, creation and art, the welcome we receive in France gives us hope.”
When the war in Ukraine started, the ballet was in France and expressed their wish to stay there. The dancers have been welcomed for a few weeks in unlimited residence at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. Since then, they have received calls from scenes ready to program them for solidarity evenings, all over France. A tour under construction that is good for the artists. “Professionally, we work the same way, nothing has changed”, says dancer Oleksandr Moroz. “But mentally, it’s very different because before we worked for us, we represented our company. And now we feel like we’re representing our country, Ukraine.”
A solidarity tour that would not have been possible without the involvement of the teams of volunteer theaters and operas, but also of the municipalities. This is the case in Mulhouse. “I got involved straight away, knowing that it’s an ambitious project”, says Bruno Bouché, artistic director of the Opéra national du Rhin, who has a creative project with the kyiv City Ballet as part of his residency at the Théâtre du Chatelet. “A project that is largely supported by the Opera, but also by spectators through the ticket office. The city of Mulhouse and the conurbation have also supported us in this process”.
Other cities are candidates to host the troupe, which will notably go to Saint-Malo on May 10.