You're reading: FLEX has a ball while raising money for charity

Alumni members of the U.S. State Department‑funded Foreign Leadership Exchange (FLEX) program hosted a dinner and dance fund‑raiser at the Dnipro Hotel on  March 16 to benefit the Kyiv Oncology Center. Ball organizers Marta Prymak, a FLEX grad herself, and Will Smiley of the American Council for International Education brought together such notables as Ukrainian folk singer Ruslana, DJ Pasha of Gala as well as American Ambassador Carlos Pascual as part of the FLEX program’s dedication to charity work and volunteerism. While Ruslana sang for the crowd early on for the $50 per plate event, it was DJ Pasha (another notable FLEX alum) who helped bring people to their feet and dance the evening away. Also part of the evening’s entertainment was a raffle, which included as a grand prize a pair of round‑trip tickets anywhere in Europe courtesy of Ukrainian International Airlines. Other major event sponsors included British Airways, Swiss Air, Hamalia travel agency and Avon.

 

Germany’s De Phazz thrilled hundreds of fans March 20 with a couple of Kyiv concerts – first at the newly named International Culture and Arts Center and later for a midnight‑hour show at Art Club 44. The acid‑jazz quartet represent one of the most relevant acts to have visited Kyiv in quite some

Fans put their mits together for Vladimir at Planeta Sport.

time (if you don’t count Boney M), and that encouraged even those music lovers less familiar with their work – and most recent album, “Death by Chocolate” – to shell out relatively big bucks to catch their act. Forty‑Four provided a swanky, candle‑lit setting for the late show – and while singer Pat Appleton had a thing or two to say about the feedback, she carried on like the pro she is – and her comrade‑in‑arms Karl Frierson stole the show with his upbeat antics and stylin’ vocals.

 

One of Kyiv’s proudest native sons, Vladimir “Steel Hammer” Klitschko, successfully defended his WBO heavyweight boxing title for the third time March 16 in front of a sell‑out crowd in Stuttgart, Germany. Ukrainian and

Guest chairman U.S. Ambassador Carols Pascual at the 2nd Annual FLEXCharity Ball

expat boxing fans were glued to their TV sets and packed bars across Kyiv – including Planeta Sport – to see Klitschko score a TKO against South African Frans Botha less than a minute into the eighth round of their scheduled 12‑round bout.

Klitschko, not to be confused with his older (and equally famous) brother Vitaly, turns just 26 on March 25 and has his sights set firmly on breaking into the big time and, more specifically, Briton Lennox Lewis, the current IBF, IBO and WBC heavyweight champion.