Oliver King, Paul Godfrey and SENF present
United Ukrainian Ballet comes to London in September to raise funds and support for their war torn country by performing Alexei Ratmansky’s Giselle in London Coliseum.
All profits from the ticket sales will go to help the people and culture in Ukraine.
Ticket sales for the public open on Monday 11th July 2022 at 10am.
The United Ukrainian Ballet dancers have all fled their country
A remarkable company of dancers will unite in a powerful interpretation of one of the greatest works of the classical repertoire, specially created for them by renowned choreographer Alexei Ratmansky. The United Ukrainian Ballet formed after Ukrainian dancers fled their homeland, and is based in The Hague at the former Royal Conservatoire building, given to the Company to live and work in through the generous support of local business and the government. The production, at the London Coliseum in September, will be supported by English National Opera and Birmingham Royal Ballet, who will provide the orchestra, set and costumes.
Each member of the Company has their own story of how they escaped the devastating war in their homeland to reach safety and join the Company. The personal journeys of the refugee dancers, and the urgency of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, resonate powerfully with Giselle’s timeless themes of love, betrayal, death and mercy. This unique and moving performance is set to be a highlight of this year’s West End calendar. This is a unique opportunity to see a powerful and moving interpretation of one of the greatest romantic ballets of all time, with a company of world-class artists united by the tragedy of war and an ardent hope for the future.
One of the greatest choreographers of his generation, Alexei Ratmansky, himself a Ukrainian citizen, is donating his time to join the Company to create his new interpretation of Giselle specifically for them. The season will feature guest performances from Alina Cojocaru and Katja Khaniukova.
The sets and costumes, designed by Hayden Griffiths, are generously loaned by Birmingham Royal Ballet and the dancers will be accompanied by the full orchestra of the English National Opera, under the baton of Viktor Oliynyk, conductor of the National Opera of Ukraine.
All profits from ticket sales will be given to the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal and the United Ukrainian Ballet Foundation, which has been set up in the Netherlands to protect, support and spread Ukrainian culture.
Having been founded as a result of the Russian Invasion, the United Ukrainian Ballet Foundation exists to protect, support and spread Ukrainian culture. Five large dance studios and classrooms at The Hague have been converted to bedrooms for the company who live and work at the centre. They are supervised by former prima ballerina of the Dutch National Ballet, Igone de Jongh, who provides instruction along with other repetiteurs from the Kylian Foundation.
Tuesday 13th – Saturday 17th September 2022
London Coliseum, St Martin’s Lane, London WC2N 4ES
Travel to the venue:
How to Get There The nearest underground station is Leicester Square (on the Northern and Piccadilly lines) and Charing Cross (on the Northern and Bakerloo lines). The nearest rail station is Charing Cross.
Times Tuesday – Saturday, 7.30pm Thursday and Saturday matinee, 2.30pm
Box Office Tickets from £10 – £200 available from 020 7845 9300, www.londoncoliseum.org or in person at the venue.
Biographies
The United Ukrainian Ballet Foundation
The United Ukrainian Ballet Foundation was founded to protect, support and spread Ukrainian culture, something that has come under huge pressure since the Russian invasion. The foundation was established in solidarity with the Ukrainian cultural world and in support of the Ukrainian people and their fight against Russian aggression. The United Ukrainian Ballet Foundation supports ‘The United Ukrainian Ballet Company’, which initiates projects and activities that contribute to the mission described above. In addition, the foundation provides financial support that makes the production and presentation of an artistic programme possible. The foundation aims to contribute to providing training, employment and perspective for Ukrainian dancers who have fled, so that they can – as soon as the situation allows it – immediately continue their cultural activities in their own country. By giving space to an important part of Ukrainian culture – dance and ballet – the foundation aims to protect the country’s identity. http://unitedukrainianballet.com/
Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal
Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal has been ensuring vital support reaches people in Ukraine and those who have fled to neighbouring countries since the start of the war in February this year. Donations to the appeal go to member charities and their local partners responding in Ukraine and neighbouring countries. DEC charities are experts in humanitarian relief with decades of responding to crises around the world – from earthquakes to floods as well as conflicts. In the initial phase of the response – the first six months – DEC charities will deliver £74.5 million of aid, with the remainder of funds being spent over a period of three years. This will allow aid agencies to continue provide the immediate help people need now, as well as established programmes to support them as they try to rebuild their lives in the months ahead. With the conflict intensifying and the crisis mounting, support for the vital work of these charities is needed now more than ever. https://www.dec.org.uk/appeal/ukraine-humanitarian-appeal
Alexei Ratmansky
Alexei Ratmansky is acknowledged as one of the world’s greatest choreographers. His performing career included positions as principal dancer with Ukrainian National Ballet, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Royal Danish Ballet. He has choreographed ballets for the Mariinsky Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet, the Royal Swedish Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, The Australian Ballet, Kyiv Ballet, and the State Ballet of Georgia, as well as for Nina Ananiashvili, Diana Vishneva, and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Ratmansky’s 1998 work, Dreams of Japan, earned a prestigious Golden Mask Award by the Theatre Union of Russia. In 2005, he was awarded the Benois de la Danse prize for his choreography of Anna Karenina for the Royal Danish Ballet. He was made Knight of the Order of Dannebrog by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark in 2001. He won his second Benois de la Danse for Shostakovich Trilogy in 2014. Ratmansky joined American Ballet Theatre as Artist in Residence in January 2009. In 2012, he choreographed a new version of The Golden Cockerel for the Royal Danish Ballet. The Golden Cockerel received its American Premiere by American Ballet Theatre on June 6, 2016.
Senf Producties B.V.
Senf Producties B.V. is a leading company in the Dutch live entertainment market, realising high-quality, current and relevant theatre for more than 45 years and annually organising and producing more than 5000 concerts, theatre performances and shows in the Netherlands and Belgium, from the Kleine Komedie to Ahoy and all stages in between. They work together with more than fifty theatre producers, companies and artists, and also produce their own performances. Senf is a direct partner of the United Ukrainian Ballet Foundation and is responsible for running the programmes it supports. https://senf.nl/
Oliver King
Oliver King is a UK based producer and general manager. He is the director of both Wild Yak and Belka Productions. His theatre credits include the immersive Ukrainian folk opera Counting Sheep (Vaults Festival), Queens of Syria (Young Vic & UK Tour), the Maly Drama Theatre of St Petersburg’s Life and Fate and Uncle Vanya (Theatre Royal Haymarket) and Three Sisters (Vaudeville Theatre), David Greig’s The Suppliant Women (Touring), Requiem for Aleppo and the Context Festival (Sadlers Wells), Donkey Heart (Trafalgar Studios) and the West End tour of the Mossovet Theatre directed by Andrei Konchalovsky (Wyndham’s). https://www.wildyak.co.uk
Alina Cojocaru
Alina Cojocaru trained at the Kyiv State Choreographic Institute and is a former Principal of The Royal Ballet. She joined The Royal Ballet School for six months in 1997 on a Lausanne scholarship and on graduation joined the Kyiv Ballet as a principal. After one season with Kyiv, she entered the corps of The Royal Ballet in 1999, was promoted to Soloist at the end of her first Season, and in April 2001 was promoted to Principal at the age of 19. With Royal Ballet Principal Johan Kobborg she forged an iconic dance partnership, celebrated in their performances with the Company and as guest artists around the world. Cojocaru left The Royal Ballet at the end of the 2012/13 Season to dance with English National Ballet.
Among her numerous awards are Best Female Dancer at the 2002 Critics’ Circle Awards and the 2004 and 2012 Benois de la Danse awards. Cojocaru is well known for her charitable work in her native Romania and neighbouring countries.
Katja Khaniukova
Katja Khaniukova was born in Kyiv and trained at the State Choreographic Institute. Formerly the Principal Dancer at the Kyiv Ballet, she joined the English National Ballet in 2014, and was soon promoted to Soloist in 2017 before becoming First Soloist in 2019. Katja has appeared as Clara in Wayne Eagling’s Nutcracker; Romeo & Juliet in-the-round at the Royal Albert Hall and roles in Ronald Hynd’s Coppélia, Derek Deane’s Swan Lake, Medora and Gulnare in Corsaire, van Manen’s Adagio Hammerklavier; Neumeier’s Spring and Fall; the title role in Mary Skeaping’s Giselle and the Novice in The Cage by Jerome Robbins. In Summer 2019 she appeared in Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella as Stepsister Clementine. Among Katja’s numerous other awards, she received the 2020 Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for Outstanding Female Performance (Classical) for her portrayal as Frida Kahlo in Broken Wings.
Viktor Oliynyk
Viktor Oliynyk is a Merited Artist of Ukraine and the conductor of the National Opera of Ukraine, a position he has held since 2017. Prior to this Viktor conducted at the Anatoliy Solovianenko Donetsk National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre and the Sergei Prokofiev Academy Symphony Orchestra at Donetsk Regional Philharmonic. His diverse repertoire includes operas, ballets, oratorios, cantatas, symphonies and concerts covering a wide range of epochs, genres and styles.
Paul Godfrey
Paul Godfrey is a veteran of the entertainment business. He has worked in a wide range of capacities, including Producer, Tour Manager, Technical Director and Agent. He first managed underground Soviet rock bands in the late 1980’s and has worked with artists including Paul McCartney, Brian Eno and Kylie Minogue. As a producer, his Company was the largest presenter of international ballet and opera productions for over a decade, touring many of the world’s companies and orchestras.
Most recently Paul arranged a trip to Ukraine for a group of Interfaith leaders, including the Emeritus Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, the Mufti of Sarajevo, a Franciscan priest, a Buddhist nun and a trio of rabbis. Upon his return, he was inspired to continue activities to support Ukraine, especially its artists and, discovering the United Ukrainian Ballet Foundation in The Hague, joined forces with them to create this project. Paul is fully committed to the cause of sustaining Ukrainian culture until it becomes possible to return.
