Kyiv City Ballet, A Tribute to Peace review

The past few years have been particularly hard on Kyiv City Ballet. Set up in 2012 in the Ukrainian capital by the former principal dancer of the Mariinsky Ballet Ivan Kozlov, the young troupe was barely established in the highly competitive world of the performing arts when the Covid pandemic struck, forcing the dancers to stop working altogether.

The end of lockdown brought renewed hope, and in February last year Kyiv City Ballet flew out on what was intended as a three-week tour of France. The following day Russia invaded Ukraine. The company found itself stranded in Paris, where it’s remained ever since.

It’s had a measure of support from the French authorities, including rehearsal space. Some of the dancers have stayed in Paris, others have taken temporary jobs with other companies. It’s unclear whether the 20 dancers who came to London at the invitation of Sadler’s Wells represent the company as a whole or just the group dancers available at this time.

Given the company’s precarious situation it’s nothing short of remarkable it’s been able to assemble a mixed bill of 15 pieces, under the umbrella title of A Tribute to Peace.

It is, however, impossible to tell whether some of the hesitations and imprecisions in the performance are germane to the company, or simply the result of the conditions it’s operating under.

Given all that, it would be churlish to pick holes in a performance that was never less than committed, and throughout which the six principals worked their socks off, appearing in a multitude of numbers without ever slacking off.

So, to concentrate on the positives: in Andrii Havryliuk and Vladislav Bosenko the company has two male principals of power and finesse.The former, tall, long-legged and elegant, was a suitably noble Albrecht in the collage of extracts from Act II of Giselle, and a safe and attentive partner to Kristina Kadashevych, herself an ethereal Giselle.

The handsome Bosenko is a virtuoso dancer with a powerful jump, which served him well in the Ali variation from Le Corsaire.

The corps de ballet of eight women, some looking extremely young, showed their mettle in the extended pas d’action from La Bayadère; and Stella Fedorovych gave a spirited account of the rarely performed Laurencia variation.

The evening ended on an emotional note: against a backcloth projection of the unmistakable skyline of Kyiv, with its gold onion domes, the men performed a colourful Caucasian folk dance, with its acrobatic jumps, friendly challenges and general jollity.

It was a clear statement that for Kyiv City Ballet dancing has become more than just its raison d’être – it’s a political act, an affirmation of Ukrainian identity and resistance.

And the profusion of bravos and 'Slava Ukraine's (sic) that rang from the audience seemed to indicate that, for many of those present, attending this performance was also very much a political act.