The Grand Kyiv Ballet will be returning to our area this March to bring a performance of “Giselle” to the Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph.
The ballet company’s founder Oleksandr Stoianov, spoke to the Standard this week about his dancers, how their performances have changed since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, and why he encourages all to see “Giselle.”
“Our company has been touring in the United States for almost three years,” Stoianov began. “This season, we showed seven different productions to our audience in the states — ‘The Nutcracker,’ ‘Swan Lake,’ ‘Snow White,’ ‘Snow Queen,’ ‘Don Quixote,’ ‘Sleeping Beauty’, and now, ‘Giselle.’”
Stoianov explained how his company is made up of two dance groups — one that performs on the West Coast and another that performs in the East. “At this upcoming show in Vermont, the principal dancer will be Viktor Tomashek, a wonderful and interesting dancer who worked with the Odesa National Opera before starting with our company in 2021. He has danced all around the world, from Europe to Australia to New Zealand to Japan.”
“We have an interesting cast for the performance of ‘Giselle,’” Stoianov continued. “During the last four years, our company has grown four times in size. Because of the war, we started to receive a lot of requests from dancers from different countries to be a part of our company — from Europe, from the United States. Now the Grand Kyiv Ballet is more like an International Ballet Company [comprised of] Ukrainian dancers, American dancers, European dancers, and some Asian dancers.
“When we first started to work with all these different dancers, it was difficult to adapt everyone to one style. All countries and ballet schools have a different technique, teach different arm positions, etc. But now, three or four years into this expanse, when our dancers step on stage, you cannot tell they come from different backgrounds. Everything is seamless and perfect.”
Stoianov went on to describe the effects the war in Ukraine has had on his dance company, telling the Standard, “Everything was changed; everything was changed after the war started. In our mind, our style of dance also changed — especially in the first and second year of the war. We still and always have tried to bring Ukrainian style and culture to the stage because our teachers are Ukrainian, our choreographers are Ukrainian, our costume and decoration design is Ukrainian. But after the war started, there was a different energy to what we brought to the stage. We saw a lot of tears from our performers during the first two years of the war, because a lot of our dancers have families and parents and friends in Ukraine. We want to use the stage to honor those people and to proudly show our nationality.”
“Giselle” follows the story of a young peasant girl who falls in love with a nobleman disguised as a commoner. Tragically, the girl dies of a broken heart when she discovers the truth about her lover’s identity. The ballet is known for its stunning choreography and beautiful music and is a true masterpiece of the ballet repertoire, Stoianov said. “Every time we perform ‘Giselle,’ those in attendance burst into tears.”
The Grand Kyiv Ballet will be performing their rendition of “Giselle” on Wednesday, March 11 at the Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph.
For more on this, please see our Feb. 26 edition of the Vermont Standard.
