Donetsk Ballet is a

ballet company A ballet company is a type of dance troupe that performs classical ballet, neoclassical ballet, and/or contemporary ballet in the European tradition, plus managerial and support staff. Most major ballet companies employ dancers on a year-rou ...

based in the city of

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. Donetsk Ballet performs works of

classical ballet Classical ballet is any of the traditional, formal styles of ballet that exclusively employ classical ballet technique. It is known for its aesthetics and rigorous technique (such as en pointe, pointe work, turnout (ballet), turnout of the legs, ...

and

contemporary dance Contemporary dance is a genre of Concert dance, dance performance that developed during the mid-twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly stron ...

. The company tours internationally.

History

A ballet company was first established as part of the existing Donetsk Russian Musical Theatre in 1946, joining an opera company already based at the theatre. These were together renamed as the Stalin State Russian Opera and Ballet Theatre. The venue is now called the Donetsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre. Donetsk Ballet has performed in the United States every year since 1989. Regular international tours also travel to Italy, Spain, Norway, France, China, and Japan. In one incident that generated much publicity, the Donetsk Ballet troupe was left stranded in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

while on tour in 1989, after being dropped by their original tour producers. After a group of different sponsors intervened, the group continued with their tour in the United States, even adding a performance at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

to their schedule. Ballerina Dame Margot Fonteyn, aware of the troubled company, asked Ken Ludden (director of The Margot Fonteyn Academy of Ballet), to help the company if possible and to express her support. Ludden contacted a number of benefactors and theatrical venues urging them to aid the stranded company. With some concrete ideas resulting, he then met with Sergei Schumakin, (Donetsk director at the time), to discuss a

performance to boost the public awareness of the company. During the meeting, Ludden was introduced to Donetsk star Vadim Pisarev. Later that week Pisarev invited Ludden to travel to Donetsk that Spring to choreograph works for the company, marking the first time an American classical choreographer created new works in the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. The trip, a first cultural exchange under the new policies of

Glasnost ''Glasnost'' ( ; , ) is a concept relating to openness and transparency. It has several general and specific meanings, including a policy of maximum openness in the activities of state institutions and freedom of information and the inadmissi ...

and

Perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...

, was co-sponsored by

Gosteleradio The State Committee of Television and Radio Broadcasting of the Soviet Union ( Russian: Государственный комитет СССР по телевидению и радиовещанию) commonly known as Gosteleradio of the USSR (Г ...

(the Soviet State media organization), and the major coal mining operation in the

Donbas The Donbas (, ; ) or Donbass ( ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. The majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The word ''Donbas'' is a portmanteau formed fr ...

Region of Ukraine. Ludden created "Romantic Etudes" for the company, as well as parts of a proposed larger work "Za Rhythma Djaza"; a solo danced by Vadim Pisarev called "East Saint Louis Toodaloo" and a group piece for the male dancers called "Caravans". One of the company's best known dancers is Vadim Pisarev, a winner of many international competitions, and the current Artistic Director of the company. Many other prominent Ukrainian dancers have been members of Donetsk Ballet, including Tamara Logunova, Valentin Zemllyanskiy, Nikolay Momot, Galina Kirilina, Stephanie Godino, Inna Dorofeyeva, and Iana Salenko. UA023MS

Vadim Pisarev School of Choreography

In 1992, the Vadim Pisarev School of Choreography was established at the theatre, providing higher training in the technical aspects of

choreography Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

Stars of World Ballet Festival

Since 1995, the Donetsk Ballet company has hosted an annual "Stars of World Ballet" festival.

Repertoire

In the decades following its founding, Donetsk Ballet staged dozens of classic ballets, including ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...

'', ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...

'', ''

Giselle ''Giselle'' ( , ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (; ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet () in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, it was first perfor ...

'', ''

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

'', '' Samson and Delilah'', '' Walpurgisnacht'', '' Paquita'', ''

Peer Gynt ''Peer Gynt'' (, ) is a five-Act (drama), act play in verse written in 1867 by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen. It is one of Ibsen's best known and most widely performed plays. ''Peer Gynt'' chronicles the journey of its title character fr ...

'', '' Chopiniana'', and ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

''. The company also staged divertissements, and evenings of contemporary and classical ballet.

References

{{Ballet companies

Ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

Ballet in Ukraine Ballet companies Performing groups established in 1946

History

Vadim Pisarev School of Choreography

Stars of World Ballet Festival

Repertoire

See also

References