"Come enjoy Tchaikovsky with us": famous choreographer exposes People's Artist of Ukraine who continues to promote Russian culture abroad

Choreographer Oleksandr Stoianov, former premier dancer of the National Opera and People's Artist of Ukraine, continues to tour abroad, taking part in works made by Russian composers. Ilia Miroshnychenko, his colleague, is sure of this.

Miroshnychenko, who knows Oleksandr Stoianov personally, explained why the glorification of Russian authors is extremely dangerous for Ukraine. He spoke about this in an interview with OBOZ.UA.

"Now I am one of those figures who is actively and aggressively against the idea of Ukrainians performing works by Russian artists," says Ilia Miroshnychenko. "I once talked to European artists working in Lithuania. They told me that their theater refused to perform Tchaikovsky's works in solidarity with Ukraine, even though these performances made a very large percentage of the box office. Meanwhile, Ukrainians such as Oleksandr Stoianov and Kateryna Kukhar (who, however, distanced herself from all this as much as possible) continued to perform Tchaikovsky."

"I know them personally, and I told them what I thought about all this right in their faces," Miroshnychenko continues. "Then Lithuanians start asking, 'How is it that we refuse, while Ukrainians can easily travel with their performances?' Does Stoianov continue to do this now? Of course! He has blocked me on social media, as well as his company, Grand Kyiv Ballet, which he heads. Apparently, to stop me from bothering him, but I have other skills (laughs). I'm very sorry, but I think artists who are not disgusted by double standards are absolutely stupid. They claim that we popularize Ukraine through performances. And, they say, these are not Russian works, they are world classics. We don't exclude Tchaikovsky because he, 'like Mozart or Shakespeare, belongs to all of humanity'."

"How do we explain to such people that the Russian Federation has been investing huge amounts of money in the expansion of its culture for centuries because it is a weapon?" Miroshnychenko is indignant, "And no matter how hard we try, no matter how much we look for Tchaikovsky's Ukrainian roots, he considered himself a Russian. And then how can we explain to an average American or European what we are fighting for, if it turns out that we even have the same culture? And we, Ukrainians, are the ones who are blurring the boundaries of the difference between Ukraine and Russia."

Ilia Miroshnychenko says that he drew such parallels publicly when Ukraine was waiting for help from the United States for more than six months, and "Oleksandr Stoianov brought Tchaikovsky to America." "He even went on TV, telling them that his family stayed in Kyiv, under fire," says the choreographer, "and despite everything, he said, 'We continue to perform, come enjoy Tchaikovsky with us tomorrow...'."

Meanwhile, the Grand Kyiv Ballet recently published a post on its Instagram page announcing the company's performance in the United States. The video shows fragments of the ballet Swan Lake, and the post itself states that "Swan Lake is a ballet masterpiece, famous for its breathtaking choreography, intricate design and enchanting score by Tchaikovsky." The performances were scheduled to take place at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, Washington, on September 22 and 23.

In another post, the group announces performances in the American city of Idaho Falls, offering to show Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker there for Christmas.

"It's certainly good that you make money, which will then partially send to Ukraine as taxes, but shouldn't the Western audience be accustomed to our specific history, for example, by showing The Forest Song, rather than once again popularizing 'great' Rashist culture?," one of the subscribers says in the comments. "And you are reinforcing people's love for this disgusting culture? When will it finally stop?"

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