Donetsk lessons

Every feast of classical dance in the miner’s capital is an extraordinary cultural event, but this one stood out more than usual. Both the participants and the audience described it as breathtaking. The legendary dancer Vladimir Vasiliev wrote verse and drew landscapes of the miners’ land. Nikolai Tsiskaridze and Ilze Liepa performed The Queen of Spades, while other ballet stars of world renown enjoyed a taste of provincial life. The artistic director of the Donetsk-based Solovianenko National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet Vadym PYSARIEV, and the festival’s organizer Vladyslav DREHER, told the The Day about the brightest moments of the ballet forum.

What made the 17th Festival so special?

Vadym PYSARIEV: “This time it featured many more celebrities and interesting choreographers. The festival was launched by the legendary master of ballet Vladimir Vasiliev, who had presented his anniversary program in New York, Tokyo, and Paris. Donetsk was the first Ukrainian city to see it. Incidentally, Vasiliev has visited Ukraine twice; both times he came to Donetsk. He left us his poems, and he painted pictures of the Donbas. This year our festival featured the Bolshoi Theater soloist Nikolai Tsiskaridze and prime ballerina Ilze Liepa, who performed an extract from The Queen of Spades. I am very gratified that the head of the Kyiv Modern Ballet, Radu Poklitaru, presented his premiere performance. I will note that it was us who revealed this choreographer for the Ukrainian audience. And the couple of dancers from Cuba, Viengsay Valdes and Elier Bourzac literally turned the world upside down in their Don Quixote. An unmatched Maria Semenchenko danced at our festival. We gave the possibility for the audience to see ballet artistes from Japan, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Norway, France, and Germany.”

adyslav DREHER: “This time, besides Donetsk, five more cities of the oblast — Sloviansk, Yenakieve, Kramatorsk, Mariupil, and Horlivka — had a possibility to savor the art of classical ballet. For the hall of the Donetsk Opera House has a capacity of 1,000 places. Owing to the touring program 5,000 more people could see the ballet. All of our soirees enjoyed full houses, there were no empty seats. All this notwithstanding the fact that in some cities, like Sloviansk and Horlivka, the palaces of cultures were not heated, and the audiences were sitting in their coats, whereas the stars of world repute stoically endured all inconveniences.”

The Stars of World Ballet Festival took place under the patronage of Ukraine’s First Lady Liudmyla Yanukovych. What were her preferences, and what performances did she attend?

V.P.: “Liudmyla Yanukovych is a guardian of our festival. She has been taking care of the event for 17 years. This year the president’s wife once again visited the festival’s opening and the closing gala concert in Donetsk, as well as the ballet performance for children Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in Mariupil. This was our joint performance with the students from an Oslo-based ballet school. Mrs. Yanukovych came to greet the children and found time to express her gratitude to the Norwegian delegation. The president’s wife is fond of kids, she helps many children. As for the ballet, the favorite performance of Ukraine’s First Lady was Don Quixote. Our program featured this performance on October 9, Liudmyla Yanukovych’s birthday.”

Ballet is considered an elitist kind of art. This narrows down the number of spectators from the very beginning.

V.D.: “Let me give you an example. To broadcast the opening and closing ceremonies of the festival large screens were placed on the theater’s building. And people stopped to watch the dances, though the weather was not good. So, there must be demand for this. Incidentally, Vladimir Vasiliev admitted that he became a ballet dancer by accident — he was simply going along the street and at the recommendation of his friend dropped by to a room where a ballet class was taking place. Practically after the first class the future ballet star was offered to stay. Maybe, in the halls where we give our performances future stars of Ukrainian ballet are sitting as well.”

V.P.: “Six and a half million Ukrainians watched the festival’s opening ceremony live on the Internet. Incidentally, Pysariev’s idea to place screens of the theater building helped popularize classical dance. Ballet does not teach anything bad — it teaches beauty.”

Mr. Pysariev, in Donetsk you are called the “man who taught miners to appreciate ballet.”

V.P.: “At the beginning of my creative career, the audience of our theater was 13 people. At that time, miners did not go to see ballet performances, and the theater was under reconstruction. But I fought for these 13 spectators. I performed so diligently that next time the audience was 36 people, and then there were full houses. Within 18 years, a revolution has taken place in people’s minds, not only in Donetsk, but all over the oblast. This was my purpose. Today miners go to ballet performances, they look for an extra ticket, which is very pleasant, because my father was a miner and I know that this is hard work and great responsibility. But the work of ballet artistes is no less hard.”

V.D.: “Vadym Pysariev is a symbol for our country, he is known far beyond Ukraine’s borders, he has worked all over the world and could have stayed in any country he liked. But he chose Donetsk. One of his projects, which is boosting the oblast’s image, is the World Stars of Ballet Festival. I don’t regard the organization of this festival as an investment. Pysariev is a friend of mine and, in first place, I am helping him. We have practically saved the event, which could have finished before it started. You know, we liked it. Therefore, we will make every effort to raise the festival to a new level next year.”

Are there any new joint projects in store?

V.P.: “Soon I will be going to Ivano-Frankivsk, where on October 15 I will open a school of ballet. I came up with this idea in May when the Donesk ballet company was touring western Ukraine. I saw many talented dancing children in Ivano-Frankivsk. They must receive classical education. So we are sending two teachers from Donetsk there. We have been invited to the Ivano-Frankivsk Philharmonic Society — I want the musicians to perform in front of our countrymen. I also dream about bringing Sergei Prokofiev’s ballets to western Ukraine. He was born on the territory of the current Donetsk oblast. Our gift will be to bring wonderful music and dances from the homeland of the great composer.”

V.D.: “A project that we are launching is called ‘East-West.’ This is a project uniting parts of Ukraine. It is no secret that the western Ukrainians’ attitude to the Donbas residents is not always positive. And vice versa. There are stereotypes and myths that prevent Ukraine from developing and living normally. Who if not Vadym Pysariev and classical ballet can dispel these myths most effectively?”