A Show of Resilience
As part of the New Orleans Ballet Association's newest season, Ukraine's Kyiv City Ballet will make its U.S. premiere in New Orleans.
The Kyiv City Ballet will launch the New Orleans Ballet Association's 2022-23 season on October 22. The performance will take place at the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts and will start at 7 p.m.
The show, which is entitled "Tribute to Peace" and will feature everything from classical ballet to traditional Ukrainian folk dance, will showcase Ukraine's rich cultural heritage. The performance will also feature two of the country's top prima ballerinas (Oksana Bondarenko and Krystina Kadashevych), as well as former St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Ballet dancer Vsevolod Maevskly.
This performance will take place while the ballet's home country is still in the midst of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which was escalated in February 2022 when Russia launched a full-scale invasion into Ukraine. According to a press release provided by the New Orleans Ballet Association, the Kyiv City Ballet unknowingly boarded one of the last flights out of Ukraine on February 23, 2022 for a tour and have not been able to return since. The company has been able to shelter in France and continue performing throughout Europe and now is starting a new tour in the United States.
"Touring the States for the first time with a range of ballets makes an important global statement," Kyiv City Ballet's Artistic Director Ivan Kozlov said in a press release. "It demonstrates the resilience of the Ukrainian people."
Tickets for the performance range from $35 to $169 depending on seating location; however, discounts are available for seniors, students, groups of 10 to 19 people, and groups of 20 or more. To purchase tickets, visit either nobadance.com or ticketmaster.com.
For more information about the Kyiv City Ballet and the New Orleans Ballet Association's 2022-23 season, visit nobadance.com.
