The United Ukrainian Ballet company’s Swan Lake: reviewed by Alan Slade
When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, Ukrainian soloists Stanislav Olshanski and Alexander Tutunique were performing in Amsterdam with the famous former principal dancer in the Dutch National Ballet, Igone de Jongh.
She found the two Ukrainians distraught in their dressing room and decided to do whatever she could to support Ukrainian dancers.
She convinced the mayor of The Hague to use the old conservatory building as a refuge centre for Ukrainian dancers and other refugees. The building had four ballet studios. By the end of March, 15 female dancers had escaped and sought refuge in the centre. Male dancers were forbidden to leave as they were required to aid the defence against the Russian invasion.
Over months the troupe grew to 70. Alexei Ratamansky, artist-in-residence at the American Ballet Theatre joined with Ms de Jongh to establish the United Ukrainian Ballet company. The Ukrainian Government saw the goodwill potential of the project and gave permission for some male dancers to join the troupe.
Ms de Jongh took on the full-time role of artistic director and, in the very short time of six months, put together the production of Swan Lake with which the troupe is touring the world. There were two Sydney performances on Saturday, November 5, at the unlikely classical performance venue – Darling Theatre, one of four within the International Convention Centre, Darling Harbour.
The cavernous 2,500-seat theatre was two-thirds full for the afternoon performance, which began with the recorded overture played by an unnamed orchestra, effectively amplified through the theatre’s impressive sound system. Unfortunately, the reproduction sounded monophonic, lacking the depth and variation of a live orchestra or stereophonic sound.
The curtain raised on the large stage for act 1, scene 1 in the terrace garden for the celebration of Prince Siegfried’s 21st birthday party. The highlight was the outstanding performance by Pavlo Zurnadzhi as the court jester. The two principals, Kateryna Chebykina as Odette/Odile and Oleksii Kniazkov as Prince Siegfried, appeared uncomfortable and the corps de ballet were a bit ragged, occasionally out of phase with the music and less than fully synchronised with each other.
The ensemble noticeably and significantly improved for Scene 2, near the lake in the palace grounds, in which the most familiar music and dances occur. The scene 2 highlight was a superb performance by Alvina Krout, Mariia Shupilova, Daria Manolio and Polina Dzhura as the little swans. Oleksiy Grishun was impressive as the evil Baron von Rothbart.
The elegant and classical ballroom set for the first scene in act 2 was well-matched by the stylish costumes. The ensemble also had apparently warmed up and their dancing and acting were very much up to the standard expected from an international troupe. Kateryna Chebykina, obviously enjoyed her alternate role of Odile above that of Odette in the previous act, dancing magnificently and emotionally portraying the coquettish daughter of Rothbart.
Oleksii Kniazkov also significantly lifted his game, both figuratively and literally, executing some impressive leaps and lifts. Oleksiy Grishun continued his evil Rothbart portrayal impressively. Pavlo Zurnadzhi’s jester was acrobatically exciting. Act 3’s return to the lake continued this enjoyable rendition of Tchaikovsky’s most popular ballet. Odette and Siegfried’s passionate reconciliation was emotionally and effectively portrayed, and the happy ending appreciated by the audience.
After the third curtain call, the entire cast and backstage crew assembled on stage. The three main soloists each held up a Ukrainian flag, one of which was endorsed “MAKE DANCE NOT WAR”, while the cast sang the Ukrainian national anthem, bringing those in the audience not already upstanding, to their feet with a significant number in tears.
The fact that this Ukrainian ballet group was able to mount this tour in such a short time after its creation is a great credit to Igone de Jongh and her supporters, acknowledged in the programme booklet as “the culmination of an extraordinary effort by dedicated individuals in Ukraine, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Israel, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia.”.
