It’s the practice before the performance: a rehearsal taking place, just a few hours before the Grand Kyiv Ballet takes the stage in Philadelphia.
The company will be performing a holiday classic — The Nutcracker.
For soloist Diana Stetsenko, moving across the stage is second nature and a way to honor her homeland.
“It’s [an] opportunity to continue my life,” she said, “without thinking about bad things.”
Those ‘bad things’ started nearly three years ago. Stetsenko awoke one cold February morning to the sound of war.
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“I woke up at 4:00 am after bombing,” Stetsenko said. “I just woke up and I heard this and I realized war started.”
She fled Ukraine, heading to nearby Slovakia and eventually joining the touring company of the Grand Kyiv Ballet.
Now, they’re in America, reminding audiences of what is going on back in their home country, while raising funds for renovations needed at the Kyiv State Choreographic College. It is where Stetsenko and others in the company perfected their craft.
Students from the school have died in the war.
“Sometimes it’s hard,” Stetsenko said, adding that dancing helps. “It’s opportunity to like to continue my life. You know, when I’m on the stage, I don’t think about everything. I try to live on the stage and – and it’s so nice.”
In Ukraine, men aged 18 to 60 are not allowed to leave the country and are conscripted into the armed forces starting at age 25.
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That’s forced the Kyiv Grand Ballet to turn to other countries, in order to find male ballet dancers.
“Ukrainian ballet has phenomenal standards,” said Zack Tidswell, a ballet dancer from the United Kingdom.
Not only is Tidswell touring with the Grand Kyiv Ballet, but while he’s away, he opened up his home to take in Ukrainian refugees.
“I said, ‘Well, I’ve got an empty room. So, we invited two Ukrainian refugees to come live with me,” Tidswell said, “and they’re still living with me now in my home in London. They’re a mother and daughter and they taught me a lot about Ukrainian culture, Ukrainian arts. So, hence why I’m so like proud to work with this company and represent Ukrainian arts and culture.”
It’s a feeling shared among all the dancers on stage.
“This is our cultural frontline, I think,” Stetsenko said. “It’s opportunity to show that Ukrainian continue to life and then we continue to keep moving and to do everything also for our country.”
It is a country that the dancers want to remind the world is still fighting for survival.
Aside from the Nutcracker, the Grand Kyiv Ballet will be on tour with other performances through May 2025. They remain hopeful that by then, peace will have returned to Ukraine.
For a list of their future performances around the U.S., click here.
