Cipollino as a source of joy

Children were pleased to watch ballet Cipollino, composed by Karen Khachaturian and choreo­graphed by Genrikh Mayorov, the performance being part of the Kyiv opera’s repertory since 1995.

The event was supported by vo­lun­teers, sponsors, and the city’s department of education, which helped distribute free tickets among the thousands of children who have taken refuge in Kyiv. About 10,000 such children are now re­gistered as students of the capital’s schools.

Before the show, Mi­nister of Culture Yevhen Nyshchuk ad­dressed the young viewers, many of whom came to an opera house for the first time. He publicly agreed with the organizers, the Charity Foundation, that children who had the bad luck to learn about war first-hand were, more than anyone else, in need of a strong boost to their hopes. Therefore, the theater selected for them a cheerful, bright, and fiery ballet based on a well-known story of a favorite hero who bravely enters the fight against injustice and leads his friends and associates to the victory of good over evil.

The performance was truly fiery this time. Maybe, it was a special audience that added new impetus to the ballet by prominent choreographer Mayorov, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary at the National Opera come Ja­nuary, and first appeared there 40 years ago. On the other hand, it could be that seve­ral successful debutants refreshed performance as they are prone to do, especially the most prominent among them, the dancer who played the part of Cipollino, Mykhailo Syniavsky, who is boyishly enthusiastic, nimble, and able to perform high jumps and risky pirouettes. He was supported by brilliant and funny debutant of the combative and selfless Little Radish, played by Kateryna Kalchenko (the ballerina pleased the public with her first performance as Snow White just a week ago, so we are seeing a new lead dancer emerging). Finally, the aristocratic, noble Magnolia was danced for the first time by Anastasia Shevchenko, who had already proved her worth in The Lady of the Camellias. Young actors organically joined the ballet despite it involving experienced performers, who already can be called masters of the ballet scene (comic parties allow us to use such an epithet): funnily arrogant Prince Lemon was danced by Artem Datsyshyn, while comically evil Signor Tomato with his habits of a warrant officer was portrayed with full dedication and humor by Yurii Korobchevsky...

The children knew many pieces of the ballet’s music from the famous cartoon of the same name, so the orchestra under the direction of conductor Herman Makarenko enjoyed a special response as the audience recognized the music it played. Beautiful perfor­mance and joy in the eyes of young viewers give hope that beauty will help us save our fragile world!