National Opera: success in Kyiv and Japan
After a long interval caused by the flu epidemic and quarantine, the National Opera of Ukraine opened its doors and eager buffs formed lines at the box offices. The Nutcracker is one of their favorite ballets, something they and the cast had missed for months. Of course, the rehearsals were held as scheduled, but performing for an audience is very different. The orchestra, conducted by Allin Vlasenko, played Tchaikovsky’s bewitching music with special inspiration, conveying every nuance of suspense and elevated spirit.
Since the bulk of the troupe is on a large-scale tour of Japan that will last until December 26, the Kyiv public saw the younger dancers. Kateryna Khaniukova, a recent graduate of Kyiv College of Choreography, laureate of Serge Lifar International Ballet Contest and World’s Young Ballet silver medalist, played the part of Clara. This is the second season on the Kyiv stage for the talented ballet dancer.
True to Hoffman’s concept, her Clara is touchingly childish, dreamy, sincere, and courageous. The poetic atmosphere of the performance was upheld by the Yevhen Lahunov’s Nutcracker. This spectacular premier danseur, graduate of Vadym Pysarev’s ballet school in Donetsk, is the winner of several prestigious competitions. Lahunov, a virtuoso dancer, helped his young partner demonstrate all of the ballet’s advantages and overcome a bit of shyness on stage. The moving Lahunov–Khaniukova duet with its beautiful partnering, which is the calling card of the choreographer Petin, was light and graceful, and its classical variations, vivid and spectacular.
In the puppet divertissement, the experienced dancers were matched by Oleksandr Shapoval who passionately courted the young fiery Anastasia Zaberezhna in the Spanish dance; Hanna Vasylieva and Mykhailo Zahreba conveyed the exotic sensuality of the Oriental dance; Kateryna Kalchenko and Dmytro Kruhlov skillfully performed the refined Chinese dance; and Ivan Boiko and Maryna Stepanchenko were gallant shepherds in the French pastoral number; Veronika Ivanova and Vitalii Naumov whirled in the Russian dance. The evil forces were effectively and sufficiently grotesquely portrayed by Vadym Burtan (Herr Drosselmeyer) and Maksym Bernadsky (Mouse King). The Waltz of the Flowers was embellished by the solo duet of Iryna Borysova and Timur Askerov.
The stage props were the good old ones designed by Viacheslav Okunev, because Maria Levytska’s new ones were being used in Japan. Incidentally, the Japanese tour was organized by Koransha, a large Japanese concert agency that is collaborating with the National Opera of Ukraine for the third season. A large-scale publicity campaign was carried out half a year prior to the tour. The Ukrainian repertoire for Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and a great many other cities includes Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty.
Another remarkable thing about this tour is that The Sleeping Beauty’s cast includes students of Japanese ballet schools. Although this means additional load for the choreographers Alla Lahoda and Mykola Priadchenko, both are the veterans of the stage and welcome this task enthusiastically, being aware that this will help strengthen international artistic contacts.
