Russia-Ukraine War Prompts Impromptu North Texas Tour Stop for Kyiv City Ballet

Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth reflected on war through a ‘Tribute to Peace’, a performance by the Kyiv City Ballet.

“We’ve all seen the scenes of war in Ukraine, and it’s heartbreaking,” Performing Arts Fort Worth President and CEO Dione Kennedy said.

The Kyiv City Ballet got on a plane in February for a scheduled tour in Paris. The next day, Russia invaded Ukraine. That prompted an impromptu tour that landed in Fort Worth Monday.

“They could not go back home,” Kennedy said. “So it just became more important it seemed for people in the United State to see what they do as an art form.”

Recently an opportunity opened up to bring the ballet company from Ukraine to share the stage in Fort Worth with the Texas Ballet Theater.

“It was just a resounding, ‘we absolutely have to do this!’ There’s no better way to do this than through our art form,” Texas Ballet Theater Executive Director Vanessa Logan said. “Ballet is a universal language.”

Ballet steps are spoken in French, no matter where in the world they are danced, including in Ukraine.

“We’re not talking about war from the stage,” Kyiv City Ballet Creative Director Ivan Kozlov said. “We’re talking only about peace, about culture, about all we can do in the world to be better.”

A dance titled ‘Tribute to Peace’ was choreographed by Kozlov and Ekaterina Kozlova after the war started.

“I’m grateful to those troops, the warriors who fight for our country, who save our families, who save us so that we still exist. We can still call ourselves Kyiv City Ballet from Ukraine,” Kozlov said. “For us, it is important because we can continue to represent our country this way; resilience, strength, power of our country. That nothing can break us. The show must go on.”

There are still tickets available for Monday night’s performance at Bass Performance Hall.

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