Ballet to unite East and West

According to Vadym PYSARIEV, art director of the Solovianenko Donetsk Opera and Ballet Theater, in spring his theater was highly appreciated in Ukraine’s western regions: “We staged Peer Gynt and One Thousand and One Nights. The public enjoyed our tour a lot. The viewers there like ballet and opera, but today only Lviv Opera House operates in the western regions. Tours rarely take place because of financial hardships, but the public needs the classics so much. I am happy that, on the initiative of Mykhailo Vyshyvaniuk, governor of Ivano-Frankivsk region, on October 14 Pysariev ballet school will be opened. We will send our two teachers there and start from scratch. We will select students for the first grade. The school will be working with the Ivano-Frankivsk Philharmonic Society, which will celebrate its 75th anniversary this year. Repairs have been made and the classrooms and lockers are equipped. The children (7-8 years old) will be learning all the basics of ballet for ten years and perhaps future ballet stars will grow there. Now in Donetsk there are 120 students, and over 200 are performing abroad on the best stages of the world. We are experienced and we are proud of our students. I am genuinely glad for their success but it is sad that the dancers have to go abroad for a better life. At home we cannot create favorable conditions and pay good salaries. I hope that the situation will change and our students will bring joy not only to foreigners but also to their fellow citizens. By the way, in mid-November Ivano-Frankivsk masters will visit Donetsk for a gala-concert. I am glad that Liudmyla Yanukovych, the president’s wife, supported my “East-West” project. We are one country and we have to know more about each other. We want to unite Ukrainian intellectuals, discover and raise new dancers, support connections between different regions of the country. We should think about the future generations today...”

On October 1-10 Donetsk will hold the 17th international festival Stars of the World Ballet. Who will open the forum and why won’t Kyivites see the gala-concert in the capital?

“The soiree, dedicated to the creative work of famous dancer Volodymyr Vasyliev, will open the festival. He will turn 70 this year. The program will include the former Bolshoi Theater’s star’s best known choreographic successes and ballet scenes. By the way, the master has not quit dancing and in Chopeniana he will perform together with young artists. Few people know that Vasyliev is also an avid painter and his pictures will be presented in the theater’s hall. I did not manage to find sponsors this year and we are not coming to Kyiv, but we will go on a mini-tour around Donetsk region. You will be able to see world star’s performances online.

“Other than that, the Donetsk stage will host Ilse Liepa, Nikolay Tsiskaridze, Denys and Anastasia Matvienko, Yan Hodovsky, Daria Khokhlova, Vladislav Lantratov, Denis Medvedev, Artem Ovcharenko, Hennadii Yanin and others. Nikolay Tsiskaridze will perform a fragment from The Queen of Spades. Lucia Lakarra and Marlon Dino will come from Germany. Susperregui, Karl Paquette, Alessio Carbone and Aurelia Belli will come from France, and Takuda Sayaka from Japan. We are expecting the guests from Kazakhstan (Nurlan Konokbayev), Hungary (Alesia Popova, Kristina Kevehazi) and Cuba (Elier Bourzac). There will also be a soiree dedicated to modern choreography. This time the viewers will see the works of the interesting choreographer Radu Poklitaru, who prepared a new play especially for this event. A propos, people who will not be able to see the opening night will have a chance to watch the ballet on two large screens (they will be mounted on the theater building for live broadcasting). This festival will be more powerful than the previous ones. Sponsors and donors helped us a lot, and I am very grateful to them. However, I did not manage to find money for the gala concert in Kyiv but I hope that next year we will find funds for the 18th festival anniversary.”

Rumor has it that you were offered to head the National Opera.

“It is just rumors. I feel good in Donetsk, while in Kyiv (today) colleagues rest on their laurels and bask in glory of the first stage of Ukraine. Our theater has achievements to be proud of and I am glad that Donetsk is gradually becoming a city of music, opera and ballet lovers.”