| THE KYIV BALLET OF THE NATIONAL OPERA OF UKRAINE
Eastern Europe is home to the grand and impressive Russian ballet style that is the esteemed calling card to a triad of world class companies: the Kirov, the Bolshoi and the Kyiv Ballet companies. It’s been over one hundred years since Tchaikovsky attended the National Opera of Ukraine and wrote “...the Kyiv’s Theatre compares very well with St. Petersburg and all the more so than Moscow.” Since the independence of Ukraine in 1991, the theatrical heart and soul of the company has flourished and is finally being recognized as the hidden jewel that it is, complete with a full roster of both classical and contemporary works performed both in Kyiv and around the world.
The Kyiv Ballet boasts a company of 150 artists and a solid school of up and coming young dancers, having a depth shared only by the most established companies of the world. The artists of the Kyiv Ballet are, and always have been, among the most talented in the world. Notably an early company soloist Serge Lifar, one of the 20th Century’s greatest dancers and choreographers.
Today, alumni and students of Choreographer and former Artistic Director Viktor Lytvynov star in and are principals in the finest companies around the world including: Ivan Putrov with London’s Royal Ballet Covent Garden, Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Belotserkovsky with the American Ballet Theatre and Leonid Sarafanov at the Kirov Ballet.
In addition to virtuosic dancers, the Kyiv Ballet also boasts one of the most talented set and costume designers of the theatrical world. The National Opera of Ukraine’s Maria Levitska dresses each production in a unique interpretation that brings to the audience a lavish, sumptuous and exotic visual spectacle rarely seen in the Western world. Combining the talents of critically acclaimed Viktor Lytvynov with the newly appointed Artistic Director Viktor Yaremenko, the Kyiv Ballet boasts impressive creatives, giving audiences a seldom seen sense of style and old world grandeur that will leave even the most sophisticated dance fan struck with wonder.
To quote Madrid’s ballet critic Roger Salas of El Pais newspaper, “The Kyiv company’s rendition of Sleeping Beauty is the best Spain has witnessed for at least twenty years. The Kyiv rendition exudes some magic force.”
In a unique collaboration, Sulyma Productions Inc. (SPI), exclusive North American representative, has taken some of that magic force, marrying the artistic talents of the Kyiv Ballet with the Shumka Dance Company of Canada in SPI’s production of THE NUTCRACKER, a ballet fantasy. Excerpts of this ballet were performed with Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Charlotte Church and London’s Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra in PEO Tours’ production A Royal Christmas that toured 15 American and Canadian cities in 2002. The Kyiv Ballet is proud to once again join A Royal Christmas starring Andrea Bocelli when this Christmas Spectacular graces another Holiday Season in 2005.
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