Dance for Ukraine 2024 Review

Dance for Ukraine was the second fundraiser organised by the Ukranian dancer Ivan Putrov, formerly a principal with The Royal Ballet, since Russian’s invasion of his homeland on 24 February 2022. Proceeds this time will go towards supporting the arts in Ukraine, namely providing aspiring dancers with grants towards their training to make sure the reality of war affects them as little as possible.

As with the previous edition, this fundraiser attracted widespread support from across the dance world, with participants coming from as far away as Japan and the USA, as well continental Europe and, of course, the UK.

The cast of Dance for Ukraine. Photo: Andrej Uspenski

After an emotional rendition of the Ukrainian national anthem by mezzo-soprano Kseniia Nikolaieva, the show itself was made up of a collection of pieces, some of which London audiences are well familiar with, such as the balcony pas de deux from MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet, danced with suitable ardour by Royal Ballet principals Matthew Ball and Lauren Cuthbertson, and others which were totally new to us, such as the baffling Asuka, danced by Yuuri Hidaka and Tomoharu Yonekura, from Asami Maki Ballet Tokyo.

Ukrainian dancers Olga Golytsia and Volodymyr Kutuzov, from Ukrainian National Ballet, performed the gentle pastoral duet Forest Song, Denys Cherevychko danced the short mazurka from Serge Lifar’s Suite en Blanc, Marianna Tsembenhoi, a Royal Ballet artis, sadly bit off more than she could chew in the virtuoso pas de trois from Le Corsaire, partnered by her fellow Ukrainian Vladyslav Bosenko and the Royal’s Luca Acri.

The Russian prima ballerina Olga Smirnova, who left the Bolshoi in protest at the invasion of Ukraine and is now with Dutch National Ballet, was a sexy Carmen to Denis Matvienko’s macho Escamillo in Alberto Alonso’s 1967 expressionistic Carmen Suite; and also danced Dying Swan to music by Saint-Saëns played live on stage.

Dance for Ukraine, Olga Smirnova in Dying Swan © Andrej Uspenski

The contingent from Britain offered some of the highlights of the evening, perhaps none more so than Sangeun Lee and Gareth Haw, from English National Ballet, in an excerpt from David Dawson’s Metamorphosis, which showed off her exquisite line and his exceptional partnering.

The Royal Ballet’s William Bracewell gave the world premiere of Andrew McNicol’s Prelude with his customary elegance.

Dance for Ukraine, William Bracewell in Prelude © Andrej Uspenski

Marianela Nuñez and Lukas B. Braendsrød offered a slow, yearning rendering of Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain.

The curiosity of the evening was the compare-and-contrast offer of two versions of La Fille Mal Gardée: Ashton’s and the older Alexander Gorsky version, based on the original Petipa, which we haven’t seen in this country. The pas de ruban from Ashton’s was charmingly executed by Sabina Strikša and Philip Fedulov, both of Latvian National Ballet; the Gorsky equally charmingly by ENB’s Francesca Velicu and Dmitri Zagrebin, a Russian now with Swedish National Ballet.

Putrov picked the perfect piece for himself: Russell Maliphant’s mesmerising Two by Two, where all the dancing is performed by torso and arms .He was partnered by Maliphant company veteran Grace Jabbari.

Dance for Ukraine, Ivan Putrov and Grace Jabbari in Two by Two © Andrej Uspenski

Kutuzov returned to bring the house down with the short but vigorously acrobatic Gopak solo from Taras Bulba; and the evening closed on an appropriately somber note: an excerpt from Gloria, Kenneth MacMillan’s memorial to the soldiers of World War I, danced by ENB’s Minju Kang and Lorenzo Trossello with Northern Ballet’s Joseph Taylor.

You can donate to Dance for Ukraine by clicking here