Feature: THE NUTCRACKER PRESENTED BY STATE BALLET THEATRE OF UKRAINE at The Lyric

     For every night of their United States tour for The Nutcracker and other shows, members of the State Ballet Theatre of Ukraine are faced with the same question. Each night they find a way to deliver the magic of the classic holiday ballet while also facing the reality that their homeland, almost 5000 miles away, is at war.

     “For us right now it is a very hard time. We are here for work and we work very hard to represent our country, but all our thoughts and all our minds are with our families back at home,” said ballerina Elena Pedan. “Every minute when we are not on the stage we think about them.”

     Pedan has been with the Dnipro-based State Ballet for two decades. It is the Christmas season, so Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker is what they perform, and try to transform, most evenings, but they are still preparing six days a week for it and other upcoming shows on the tour.

     “There is a seven hour time difference and when Russia bombs our cities and we are on the stage doing this show it is very difficult,” said Pedan, who views performing The Nutcracker as coming home to an old friend. “We are very nervous, because we want to show the audience our best performance, but inside our hearts and our brains, we are thinking about our families.”

     As the corps danced their normal afternoon class before a Thursday night performance at The Lyric in Baltimore, Michael Art, the producer and executive director reflected on obstacles the company faced preparing back in war-torn Ukraine for this tour.

     Since the war started, the State Ballet Theatre of Ukraine has had to reduce the length of their shows and reduce audience sizes to allow them to shelter in the basement if a Russian rocket attack comes. “From the time you hear the rocket, you have 10 seconds, 10 seconds,” said Art. “What can you do in 10 seconds?”

     The question of what can you do in 10 seconds and the feeling of being hopeless to avoid fate if it finds them has led most of the dancers to choose to live their lives and continue to dance. “We are not paying too much attention to this, but this is not normal. This is totally not OK. But it’s almost two years, so what can we do?” said Pedan. 

     The answer, is this tour that spans 15 states for 10 shows a week. They were in Baltimore on Thursday, but will hit Queens, Brooklyn and Newark on successive nights trying to deliver the magic of The Nutcracker.

     “We are still living life. Life goes on. We work, we have kids, we are studying, we are marrying. Life didn’t stop to us,” said Pedan. “Are you stopping your life so you can die inside, or still, in this hard time, even under the bombs, you live your life, and try to enjoy your life, because you have only one life. If not now, when?”

     As much as Pedan talks about the job part of performing, it is clear she cherishes the engagement and interaction she gets with children at these shows as something that helps her forget the war at home ever so briefly.

      “This is a very complicated question.  You should do something to bring joy in your life.  Because, the dancing for us, it's time to not think about the war. Thinking about right now. About this moment,” said Pedan. “And joy to see this happy audience. Happy eyes of the kids. And the families when we bring this Christmas show. And, yeah, it's Christmas soon. And it's time for a miracle. Let's make a wish. So, what I'm trying to say is never stop living your life.”

     The lobby before the show was filled with kids who come up to Pedan in costume to get a photo taken with a princess. In these moments, Pedan is a princess for the little girls who are their forging memories that will last a lifetime.

     “For kids, it's just a miracle. It's a fairy tale and they see, oh, this is the princess, this is Sugar Plum, oh, you're so beautiful,” said Pedan reflecting on the dichotomy of being a temporary princess from a country at war. “Like I told you before. Job. Work life. Personal life. Two different things. We have our job which we should do well and our personal life, but two different parts of our world in one moment and it's really exhausting.”

     Take a look at Broadway World’s exclusive look behind the scenes and from their performance at The Lyric. For ticket information to upcoming State Ballet performances of The Nutcracker, Snow White, and Cinderella visit their website here - State Ballet Ukraine Tickets

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