Ivan Putrov and Olga Smirnova unite for Ukraine ballet gala (Image: GETTY)
Stars from the Royal Ballet and English National Ballet will be joined by a host of overseas stars flying in from as far away as Japan for a glittering night of dance at the London Palladium this Sunday, February 18.
Organised by Ivan Putrov, he says: “We know that one of the biggest, if not the biggest, supporter of Ukraine is Britain. Thank you for all you’re giving. We still need all the armour, we still need all the help, food, everything, financial support. But we also need inspiration, we need to know what we’re living for. If we don’t have a reason to live, then what are we fighting for?”
Olga adds: “With the gala Dance for Ukraine we are raising awareness among the people that the war is still going on and it is important to raise the necessary support to help art survive in the country devastated by war. Ballet traditions were always very strong in Ukraine. We know many ballet stars who received an excellent ballet education there, that’s why we need to make sure that the ballet traditions are still carrying on in Ukraine.”
Olga Smirnova rehearsing with the Dutch National Ballet a month after quitting The Bolshoi in 2022 (Image: GETTY)
Dance For Ukraine II is the first UK performance for the former Bolshoi Ballet principal since her courageous act.
“Olga left everything behind,” Ivan says. “She said she is ashamed of what Russia is doing. She could have sat quietly and avoided trouble but she is flying in for us. She’s doing all she can. I don’t care if she’s from Russia or Mars, she is our friend and her stance must be celebrated.”
Like many countrymen, Ivan, 43, intimately knows the horrifying cost of the invasion. “Many dancers joined up immediately and perished,” he says. His cousin Dima died fighting on the frontline near Vuhledar, the site of intense tank battles over the past 12 months.
“I remember him staying with us like it was yesterday,” Ivan says. “He worked for a mining company but he loved hearing about the ballet.
Ivan Putrov and his mother Natalia (Image: GETTY)
Kyiv Opera and the inscription ДЕТИ (CHILDREN) in front of it on March 16, 2023 (Image: GETTY )
Ivan’s parents were both ballet stars. His mother Natalia made a “terrifying” journey to London at the start of the invasion, but his father Oleksandr, now a photographer, still lives on the edge of Kyev, outside the city’s anti-missile defences.
He tells his son he’s “unable to sleep” as the world shakes during bombardments. A bomb exploded near the family dog, who now cowers at home. But Oleksandr goes every day to Taras Shevchenko National Opera House. It continues to mount productions and everyone rushes to shelter when the sirens sound.
“I would have taken a gun,’ Ivan says, “but I know how to do something else better. I know how to dance, how the dance world works. I feel my efforts will be more helpful for my homeland.”
Dance For Ukraine poster (Image: PH )
Olga, 32, still finds it very difficult to talk about the war, but Ivan points out how she speaks with her actions: “She is performing Carmen with a Ukrainian partner, Denis Matvyenko, and the Dying Swan, made famous by Anna Pavlova. History repeats itself. Pavlova also left Russia because she did not like what was happening.”
The mainly classical ballet bill includes some modern pieces as well, Ivan promises, as some Hopak, the Ukrainian cossack folk dance. Artists are flying in from Japan, the Netherlands, Latvia, Sweden and more to show solidarity, alongside famous names from the Royal, Northern and English National Ballets like Marianela Nuñez, Matthew Ball and Lauren Cuthbertson.
“I know the arts are not free from politics,” Ivan says, “but their support shows that it’s not where you are from that matters but what you believe.”
Ivan Putrov in Dance of the Blessed Spirits – Men in Motion (Image: PH )
The gala will raise funds to support aspiring dancers and to create a production of The Royal Ballets’s romantic comedy La Fille mal gardée for the National Ballet of Ukraine.
Ivan says: “People are already excited about putting on the production. It gives them hope. I want to celebrate life, to bring joy. And there’ll be a kid who will get the pointe shoes they need or watch their first ballet.
“In Ukraine, even if you’re not in a dance or theatre world, like Dima, you love it. These are the ways that we want to live, and Ukrainians are now fighting for it. I want to help those suffering in Ukraine see they are not alone.”
DANCE FOR UKRAINE II AT THE LONDON PALLADIUM ON FEBRUARY 18
Dance For Ukraine poster (Image: PH )