National Ballet of Ukraine touring Canada

The National Ballet of Ukraine is touring Canada in a series of 22 performances across 10 cities to raise money and awareness for Ukraine amid the war.

“What we’re seeing a lot today in Ukraine is the deliberate destruction by Russian forces of Ukrainian cultural sites. So this is everything from museums, concert halls, and so what these dancers are doing is really going across the country and preserving their culture, showing it to Canadians, and making sure that this stays alive,” said David Meffe, the head of development with HUMANITE Canada.

In Montreal, they’re performing at the St-Denis Theatre four times until January 20th. The troupe of 150 dancers from the Taras Shevchenko Opera House is considered to be one of the world’s top-ranked ballet companies. 

“This is the best dancers in our theatres. This is a lot of soloists and it’s very seldom when a theatre travels with a lot of soloists together,” said Natalia Matsak, principal dancer with the National Ballet of Ukraine.

“We want to show emotion, what people in Ukraine feeling today.” 

During the show, The National Ballet of Ukraine will perform excerpts of some of the world’s greatest ballets alongside spotlighting Ukrainian traditional dance. 

“We have many pieces, it’s great classical pieces like Don Quixote and Corsaire,” said Sergii Kryvokon, the principal dancer, with the National Ballet of Ukraine.

The cross-Canada tour is aimed at showcasing Ukrainian culture and raising funds for non-profit organizations operating in Ukraine that provide crisis relief, and refugee aid, and seed long-term projects to help rebuild the country. 

“We’ve got millions of people displaced from their homes. We have hundreds of been killed, and children orphaned. We’ve got old people that have nowhere to sleep, so really getting money over there and getting it to the right place is hugely important right now,” said Meffe.

“It’s horrible. It’s always scary. It’s always you thinking about, I don’t know everything, about your love person and about the situation every second, every minute,” said Kryvokon. 

Matsak added, “I want to say thank you so much for all the audience who will be here today because they are very support our country and our dancers.”