{"id":45798,"date":"2022-10-02T20:20:41","date_gmt":"2022-10-03T00:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=45798"},"modified":"2022-10-09T10:14:58","modified_gmt":"2022-10-09T14:14:58","slug":"for-chattanooga-ballet-performing-with-kyiv-city-troupe-an-opportunity-of-a-lifetime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2022\/10\/for-chattanooga-ballet-performing-with-kyiv-city-troupe-an-opportunity-of-a-lifetime\/","title":{"rendered":"For Chattanooga Ballet, performing with Kyiv City troupe an opportunity of a lifetime"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>

Photo courtesy of Kyiv City Ballet<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Performing on the same stage as the internationally renowned Kyiv City Ballet from Ukraine is undoubtedly an honor for Chattanooga Ballet, but it\u2019s more than that, said Artistic Director Brian McSween.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat it means is there will be a lot more people in that audience that may not have ever had any exposure to Chattanooga Ballet, and they may not realize that Chattanooga has a very good, professional ballet company,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not students. It\u2019s not a group of dancers that just meets occasionally. They make Chattanooga their home. They are employed full-time by us.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an honor for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, both ballet companies will perform Oct. 5-7 in the newly renovated Roland Hayes Concert Hall in the Fine Arts Center.<\/p>\n

There are 15 cities on the Kyiv City Ballet tour, which marks the first time it has performed in the U.S. The company is scheduled for three Chattanooga performances co-sponsored by Chattanooga Ballet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a great opportunity to see just how good our local ballet company is. It\u2019s not just \u2018The Nutcracker\u2019 anymore,\u201d said Robert Boyer, director of the UTC Performances Series and the Fine Arts Center box office supervisor.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be able to put them with the Kyiv City Ballet is a real opportunity, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

With no knowledge that Russia would invade Ukraine the next day, the Kyiv City Ballet took one of the last flights out of the country on Feb. 23. The company traveled to Paris to begin a long-planned European tour. It has not returned home since.<\/p>\n

Irina Khmelko, a UC Foundation professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Service and a native of Ukraine, said the performances of the Kyiv City Ballet and Chattanooga Ballet can speak to people in a unique way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that art is the only language on the planet Earth that everybody understands,\u201d she said. \u201cBallet is pure perfection and one of the few ways that we all can experience perfection. I saw how much people in Ukraine enjoyed this form of art. I have also seen that Chattanoogans enjoy it as much.<\/p>\n

\u201cBallet allows us to feel humans, especially in times of turmoil, cruelty and violence. Ballet brings feelings to us that only we humans can have and, in this way, can somewhat balance, even for a minute, the horrific things happening on this planet and show us how beautiful humanity can be when it puts time and effort into arts and culture, as opposed to violence. Perhaps, beauty can indeed save the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

While not a comparison that jumps immediately to mind, the career of a ballet dancer is similar to that of a professional athlete, McSween said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have a limited shelf life,\u201d he said. \u201cAnytime where you are not dancing or anytime where you are not using your art form, for a dancer, that provides a lot of pressure because you don\u2019t have an endless amount of opportunities to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why bringing the Kyiv City Ballet to the UTC is so important. Forced to live outside their home, the dancers are losing precious time in their careers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re only in this company because they\u2019ve been training since a young age, so there\u2019s a lot invested in having the opportunities to dance,\u201d McSween said. \u201cClearly, they can\u2019t do that back at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cA tour like this allows them to continue to flex their artistic muscle. It allows them to continue to do the thing that they\u2019ve been training to do and not feel like that is another thing being sacrificed, along with everything that they\u2019ve lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian ballet company arrived in the United States on Sept. 14, said Artistic Director Ivan Kozlov. He said the first two performances\u2014in Wilmington, Delaware, and Charlotte, North Carolina\u2014have been warmly received.<\/p>\n

\u201cWonderful response. Everybody applauds by standing. Our performances are a great success,\u201d he said while walking to rehearsals for the next performance in Suffolk, Virginia.<\/p>\n

On his first trip to America, he called it \u201ca great country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we don\u2019t see much of it because we are working all the time. We have no day off. Our schedule\u2019s so busy even right now.\u201d<\/p>\n