Emma Goddard reported this story on assignment from The White River Valley Herald. The Community News Service is a program in which University of Vermont students work with professional editors to provide content for local news outlets at no cost.
When Ukrainian ballet dancers Kateryna Kukhar and Oleksandr Stoianov take the stage at Chandler Music Hall on Feb. 25, they’ll build upon a connection between two cultures that are thousands of miles and worlds apart.
The two principal dancers of the Grand Kyiv Ballet will perform “Giselle” for a Randolph audience that has ties to their home country. Randolph has maintained a sister city relationship with Myrhorod, in central Ukraine, for more than two decades. The connection has resulted in frequent communication and numerous back-and-forth visits between members of each community.
Stoianov emphasized the importance of “cultural collaboration” between the two cities and countries, particularly while Ukraine is fighting a prolonged war with Russia. In a phone interview with the dancers earlier this month from their temporary home in Seattle, where they now live while avoiding the conflict in their country, he said he is eager to show audiences the “special skills, heart and open soul” of Ukrainian dancers.
The performance comes just two weeks after the music hall reopened following a year-long renovation that included plasterwork, aesthetic upgrades, and a new speaker system. The buzz around the ballet has generated strong ticket sales in Randolph and neighboring towns, said Chloe Powell, Chandler’s executive director. A friend of Powell’s even overheard some ballet-related chatter in White River Junction, she said.
Over in Ukraine, talk of ballet has taken a back seat to a war that has raged on for two years. The dancers, who are also married with two children, expressed their gratitude for the support the United States and Americans have shown Ukraine during such a painful era for the country. While the destruction of their country causes undeniable pain for those experiencing it, Kukhar and Stoianov have channeled that hurt into the emotion of their performances and use it to generate compassion for the situation in Ukraine, they said.
“After all performances,” Kukhar said, “we open a Ukrainian flag, and all of the dancers cry on stage. The audience feels our pain.”
“Giselle” tells the love story of its titular character, a peasant maid, who falls for a count who disguises himself as another commoner. It’s a tale of passion and betrayal. Kukhar plays Giselle, and Stoianov is Count Albert. The ballet concludes with a dramatic resolution, accompanied by a sunrise.
“The most powerful weapon is the weapon of art,” Kukhar said. “Art shares a real picture of what happens in Ukraine.”
The “Giselle” story is powerful and also symbolic to Kukhar. It gives her hope, she said.
“It gives faith and belief in the future, in the future of the children,” she said. “A sunrise for Ukraine.”
The Grand Kyiv Ballet’s “Giselle” will also stop in Stowe at Spruce Peak Arts on Feb. 26.