Following recent statements made by the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and the Ukrainian Institute, the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations (AFUO) has met with representatives from The United Ukrainian Ballet (TUUB) to seek clarification about the company’s direction and motivation.
The company confirms it is a registered charity in the Netherlands, formed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The company welcomes dancers from Ukraine and supports them to continue dancing. In doing so, however, TUUB neither has, nor has sought any formal relationship with any Ukrainian art collective or dance company, nor is it endorsed nor sought endorsement by the Ukrainian Government for the Australian tour of Swan Lake.
The company is 100% committed to standing with the Ukrainian people, the sovereignty of its borders, the end of Russian aggression, and freedom for the Ukrainian people.
TUUB has committed to presenting two ballets in 2022, Giselle and Swan Lake. The company’s European seasons of Giselle performed over the past months provided a forum for communities to express their support for Ukraine. They have secured world-wide attention and extensive media coverage about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Since the beginning of the war in 2014, many Russian cultural elites, artists and liberals failed to express their clear opinion on the occupation of Donbas and Crimea. Support for the military invasion remains high in Russian society. For this reason, Russian voices which oppose the war are important.
Both the AFUO and TUUB respect views vary on Swan Lake for Ukrainians. For many it is an expression of Russian culture which gives rise to legitimate hurt. Many others recognise the role people of many nations have played in the creation and evolution of the ballet. It is neither the role of AFUO or TUUB to arbitrate on these different views.
Looking beyond the staging of Swan Lake, the AFUO and TUUB consider it an opportune time to evaluate how Ukrainian culture can continue to be supported during and after Russia’s war on Ukraine, which is destroying cultural infrastructure in Ukraine every day.
The Ukrainian Institute is recording and telling stories of these losses in the project ‘Postcards from Ukraine’.
There is also an opportunity to support Ukrainian artistic voices and perspectives, and create a new, inclusive environment for Ukrainian culture. Imperial and Soviet practices in Ukraine supported Russian norms, values, and preferences as the standard for Ukrainian artistic expression.
Collectively we can move forward and work to bring Ukrainian arts out of Russia’s shadow. Art often acts as a catalyst for change and new ways of thinking. This is an opportunity to do just that.
