A performance of the "Don Quixote" ballet at the Kyiv Opera House on June 5 was particularly special for one of the ballerinas on stage.
It was the first time that Kateryna Hanyukova had returned to Ukrainian ballet stage since she left her home country to dance in the English National Ballet in London a year ago. She came back for a single performance and played Kitri, one of the lead roles in Marius Petipa’s famous ballet.
When she still lived in Ukraine, she danced the lead roles in classical ballets such as “Romeo and Juliet,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “Swan Lake,” “Giselle,” and “Le Corsaire.” In order to perform in Kyiv this night, Hanyukova had to take a vacation at her own expense. She flew straight from a Madrid performance in a show about World War I.
While Western ballet talent scouts don’t primarily focus on Ukraine – they prefer such countries as China or Japan – some Ukrainian dancers still make it big abroad. World-renowned dancer Sergey Polunin, from the southern city of Kherson, won a scholarship from the British Royal Ballet’s school at the age of 13, and became its principal dancer at 20.
Kyiv’s Alina Cojocaru left Ukraine in 1999 and is now also at the English National Ballet as a lead dancer.
Unlike Polunin and Cojocaru, who seem to have lost connection to Ukraine, Hanyukova plans to use the knowledge and experience she gets in the U.K. to develop ballet in her home country.
The 25-year-old dancer was offered a job at the English National Ballet after visiting a workshop early in 2014. She accepted it even though she didn’t know anyone in the U.K.
While she now earns four-times more abroad than she did with the Kyiv Opera House, Hanyukova says it wasn’t the money that made her accept the offer. She was drawn by her passion for modern ballet, which is rarely performed in Ukrainian theaters.
Hanyukova was exposed to ballet by chance. As a child, she used to dance in the yard near her house. A neighbor, a former ballerina, saw her and taught her the basics.
The training she receives abroad is significantly more intense than what she had in Ukraine, she says. Rehearsals and classes take about 7.5 hours of hard work every day except Sundays, and sometimes she leaves the theater past midnight. But she finds comfort in eating – and unlike many ballerinas, she doesn’t have to keep a strict diet thanks to her natural physique.
After living a year abroad, Hanyukova still believes the Ukrainian ballet school is strong. But while it has competent and enthusiastic teachers, the art form seriously lacks money.
Her alma mater, Kyiv State Ballet College, is an example of how badly ballet is being neglected by government and potential sponsors, she says. Even the floors of the college’s dancing studio are worn out.
While working on an unlimited contract in London, Hanyukova plans to help develop modern ballet and philanthropy in Ukraine. She’ll begin by seeking sponsorship for the college, the only state ballet school in Ukraine. “Our culture of philanthropy is embryonic,” she says.
“I don’t want my country to drag behind,” Hanyukova says. “Ballet is where I can help it.”
Kyiv Post staff writer Yuliana Romanyshyn can be reached at [email protected].
