Three performances, each in its own way befitting this extraordinary company. Alexei Ratmansky’s Wartime Elegy is his personal response to war and will have its European premiere in the Netherlands. The performances by Kylián and Léon and Lightfoot are a gesture from the Dutch dance world to give the Ukrainian company of refugee dancers a warm welcome.

Dancing in Defiance is an full evening experience where you have the pleasure of enjoying from the comfort of your theater seat world-famous choreography danced by a unique company brought together by war.

“Wartime Elegy” is Ratmansky’s first new ballet since that war began. Although the choreographer is a vocal opponent of Putin’s invasion, this work is not overtly political. Instead, the tender dance, performed to both Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov’s haunting music for piano and strings, and sprightly traditional folk music, is a love letter to the Ukrainian people – a tribute to the joy they find in their distinct culture, to their resilient strength and to their hope for a peaceful future.

Falling Angels is a work for eight women. It was conceived as a somewhat light-hearted homage to female performers. Choreographically, this piece is a study of the two most opposing  properties of any art work: discipline and freedom. The eight women dance in this work from start to finish. They never leave the stage. Their interdependence, and their wish to break out is evident throughout the entire piece.

Step Lightly marked the beginning of the collaboration between León and Lightfoot. Their greatest and most important influence was the emotive singing of Bulgarian women; they sang in chorus about the seasons and nature for generations. You can hear in their singing both strength and vulnerability. This fact inspired León and Lightfoot to create a world that complements the power of nature. The six dancers portray both those family ties and the unity they feel together.

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